What is to come
by azyrian
Summary: COMPLETE Memories Sequel With a sudden appearance of her father, and the end of the world rapidly approaching, Karigan braces herself for the hard road ahead with the help of Raven. Together, the two fight to withstand their fathers and their Told destiny
1. Discarded Past

**Full Summary: SEQUEL TO MEMORIES With a sudden appearance of her father, and the end of the world rapidly approaching, Karigan braces herself for the hard road ahead with the help of Raven. Together, the two fight to withstand their fathers and their Told destiny.**

Heeloo everyone and welcome to the first spankin' chappie of 'What is to Come'! I have this horrible habit of creating crappy titles and then changing them a lot…as what is going to happen to this title…though I do like it more than some of the others I thought up… but anydiddlyhoo…sorry for the delay…but since its spring break, I got back to writing after almost a 2 week pause. But what really sucks is that I know what the hell is gonna happen at the end, and I know what is happening at the beginning…but I cant get to the damn middle…! CURSE YOU, O STUPID MIDDLE!…! but always fear, I am here to feast on your cows and brainwash your dogs! BWAHAHAHAHA! But really, enough of my wacko ramblings, and on to the first chapter!

Disclaimer: really, now think about it, if I didn't own them then, im most certainly not gonna own them now…damn legal poo…

I really need to lay off the sugar…I started typing this 3-27-05 at 2 in the frikin morning…and im not at all tired!

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**What is to Come **

**Chapter One: Discarded Past **

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As the sun rose and settled into the sky, the light crept through the semi-opened curtains and onto a sleeping figure.

"Damn sun." Karigan groaned, closing the curtains with the wave of her hand. (dontcha hate the sun when it does that? Grr…)

She stared at the ceiling of the room, _her_ room, the room she had lived in for almost a month now, and still couldn't believe Slade was dead. Her mornings were often like this, reflecting on the past and looking to the future. The man that had haunted and hunted her for two years was finally gone.

It had been a peaceful month, only a few small attacks here and there. Karigan grew to love every member of the team like she would family. And with the painful memory of Slade safely tucked away Karigan was able to open her heart up completely and let someone else in. She and Robin's relationship seemed to grow exceptionally better with each passing week, and they had been officially dating for two weeks.

As she lay there, wandering in her dreams and memories, a pang of guilt stabbed at her heart. Karigan had only one secret that might harm the rest of the Titans and herself. Why she hadn't told them after Slade was killed, Karigan didn't know.

She broke out of her reverie when her watch beeped, signaling a new hour. It was 10:00, and Karigan was surprised no one had come to wake her up. So she took a quick shower, threw on a pair of khaki cargos and a red sleeveless shirt and headed downstairs.

The kitchen was in complete chaos, but mornings were usually like this, only earlier. Cyborg and Beast Boy were arguing over what to have for breakfast, and Robin and Star were making it, obviously tired of waiting. Raven was setting the table when Karigan came in.

"How come no one came to wake me up?" she asked, stretching. Raven merely shrugged and sat down to read.

Karigan walked over to Star and Robin, "Need any help?" Robin shook his head.

"If you could try to shut those two up and tell them breakfast is done, we can eat." Karigan nodded and went to stand off to the side, saying nothing. The argument had taken a turn for the worst-Beast Boy was lecturing Cyborg on how it was inhumane to kill and devour innocent, defenseless animals; waving a spatula in his face all the way. What the two didn't notice was that all the pillows from the couch had risen into the air and were levitating dangerously close to their heads. Karigan threw the floating pillow right for Beast Boy's head, and it hit him at full force, knocking him back a little and shutting him up immediately. Cyborg pointed and laughed hysterically at Beast Boy, but he wasn't off the hook either and another pillow came zooming at his head, hitting and catching him by surprise. Karigan burst out laughing at the looks on their faces and told them it was time to eat.

After breakfast was over Robin sentenced Cyborg and Beast Boy to kitchen clean up. The rest of the Titans went their separate ways; Raven began reading once again, Star to watch a segment on the average growth rate of African baboons, and Karigan and Robin mozied upstairs to train. When they arrived at the training room Karigan picked up a hand-held miniature punching bag and Robin began beating it to death. Karigan spoke first as Robin continued punching.

"How come no one came to wake me up this morning?" she asked. The Boy Wonder paused for a moment.

"Truth be told, I don't think any of us got up until at least 9. Even Raven slept in, and BB got up about 20 minutes before you did." Karigan nodded and smirked evilly.

"What?" Robin asked. At that moment Karigan launched a punch at him, which he dodged. (WARNING: fluff stuff up ahead...and i suck at writing fluff...so, you have been warned... . )

"Sneak attack, eh?" he said, smiling. Karigan only shrugged, still smirking.

"You wanted to train..." she faded off. Robin grinned mischievously and tackled her to the floor. Karigan eeped as they fell and she laughed breathlessly as Robin began tickling her.

"No fair!" she gasped between giggles.

"No one said war was fair." he responded, still relentlessly tickling her. Now Karigan simpered wickedly.

"Time to make it fair." she told Robin as he began to float a few feet above her.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, flapping his arms wildly. "Now _that's_ not fair!"

"No one said war was fair." she mocked him mercilessly, waving her hands in front of her like a bird. Robin saw a window of opportunity and grabbed Karigan's wrist, pulling her close to him. His feet touched solid ground as his lips met warm, moist skin. Karigan closed her eyes and enjoyed the kiss, but it was cut short by the alarms sounding and the read alert lights flashing. Karigan pulled away, sighing.

"Damn it, bad guys ruin all the fun." she said, turning to the door. "We should probably go." Robin sighed also.

"I suppose so." he said, following Karigan out of the room.

"Cyborg, report." Robin ordered as soon as they got downstairs

"Some raving lunatic downtown is randomly setting fire to things." Cyborg answered, reading the report. There was one evanescent vibration in the air, a faint smell that tainted Raven's nostrils. She knew it wasn't just any raving lunatic; the smell and vibration were vaguely familiar. They were close to her father's, but then she knew they were different and it clicked.

"Xaphtious." she whispered out loud. Everyone turned to her, puzzled expressions on each of their faces.

"Say what?" Cyborg asked, confused.

"Xaphtious." Raven repeated louder. "Right hand of my father. Sold his soul to gain demonic powers and help my father destroy the world." she explained. The puzzled expressions remained except for Karigan's; she recognized the name. _There's Trigon, Grim, Xaphtious, and Bob in the Underworld._ Raven met Karigan's eyes-she heard her thoughts. _"How'd you know that?" _Raven mentally demanded. _"Sividia told me, remember?" _Karigan replied. _"Oh, yeah." _Raven lied. When Karigan had told everyone about her coma Raven hadn't been listening, at all.

"Right." Robin said finally. "So we've got a demonic raving lunatic. But nevertheless one that had to be brought down. Titans, lets go!" he added, sprinting for the door. Everyone followed behind, heading downtown.

Jump City was a thriving city of new ideas, technology, people and bad guys. When the Titans reached downtown it lacked everything but the bad guy. Some of the park in the center of the square lay in smoldering ruins, while the rest was burning up in black flames. The whole square was deserted, the fumigation from the acrid smoke and sudden outbreak of violence made everyone flee.

"What, so our bad guy's invisible." Beast Boy piped up, turning his head every which way, still looking.

"Either that or chicken." Cyborg responded, turning his arm into the sonic cannon. "The guy's probably got some sneak attack up his sleeve because he's too much of a coward to face us up front." Karigan scanned the surrounding area and the skies, just in case. IN the sky above them all, Karigan glimpsed a moving black dot. As it got closer she realized it was a ball of charcoal colored flames. Robin saw it also and warned everyone else.

"Titans, scatter!" They all did that, but a little too late. The fireball crashed into the ground right where everyone had previously been standing a second before. The force form the impact blasted all the Titans (except Raven and Starfire) off their feet. Slowly, the Titans recomposed, wary of their craven attacker

"Please, why is this villain performing the 'Attack of the Sneaks'? Does he not wish to fight us?" Starfire asked, starbolt at the ready. No one had an answer for her.

"Dude, this is getting ridiculous. I'm starting to feel like I've done something wrong instead of the other way around." Cyborg spoke up, whirling around at the slightest sound.

Karigan walked up to Raven, "Xaphtious can't turn invisible, can he?" Raven shook her head.

"He can fade to a shadow, but not completely invisible."

"Hmph. Thanks for the warning." Karigan responded, turning to the racket Cyborg was making.

"Another sneak attack, eh?" he shouted, randomly firing his sonic cannon in the air. At that moment a shadow leapt at Robin.

"Look out!" Karigan shouted, launching her own flame ball at the shadow. Xaphtious easily dodged her missiles and lunged for Beast Boy, who changed into an eagle and soared into the air.

"Aim at the shadow." Karigan told everyone, but the shadow had disappeared again. "Damn." she cursed under her breath. "Show yourself, you damnable waste of a demon." she shouted angrily. There was no answer, but then again, she didn't expect any. Raven knew Xaphtious wasn't gone, his vibration signature still hummed in the air. The half-demon brought her clasped hands to the middle of her eyes and separated them. A black, but transparent rectangle of power stretched between her parted hands. It was like sunglasses, only a faded demon could be spotted by looking through the aura. Raven scanned the area, but found no sign of Xaphtious.

Someone shouted, "Behind you!" before she was tackled to the ground.

"Hello, Xaphtious." Raven said icily so only he could hear her. "Still kissing my dad's ass? What does he want this time?" she asked, struggling to get up.

"It seems you are not the half-demon in this city." Xaphtious whispered hoarsely before Raven encased him with her powers. Raven floated to her feet and stood next to Robin.

"You ok?" he asked, pulling out a couple of freeze disks. She nodded and looked back at Xaphtious, who was struggling against his bonds.

"You foolish girl," He spat, breaking free from Raven's powers. "Stronger demons couldn't hold me, so what makes you think you can?"

Karigan's heart skipped a beat – she knew that voice. It had changed little since the last time she had heard it. But Karigan couldn't quite place it; the voice only had a blurry face, and no known body. She needed to see his face; she needed him to reveal himself.

"Coward," she said venomously, accusingly. "If you're so great a demon, tell me, why do you cower in and hide?" she asked, knowing he was backed into a corner. A throaty chuckle emitted from the dark shadow in front of them.

"You want to see me then? That is fine." Xaphtious replied, beginning to take solid shape and color.

The newly revealed demon had a basic human appearance. His hair was cropped short, spiked and pitch black. He was only about the same height as Starfire, (I dunno…5'9 or something like that?) and wore a long, black hooded robe. The one thing Karigan did not remember about this creature was his eyes. They were lidless and blacker than the darkest corners of the abyss, with emotion behind them, just a never-ending void of night. Now it clicked, the once blurred person in her head had a face. She mentally called out to Raven. _I've found another thing that triggers my anger,_ she said, her eyes now as red as the blood that ran through her, _my father._

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OoO so you likey the first chappie? I hope so, because I thought it wasn't as good. But then again, the only flippin part I had was when Karigan said that Xaphtious was her dad…I need to stop doing that…. But anydiddlyhoo…expect another update really soon cuz im on spring break until the 4th! Booyah! Please review, until whenever-krakr out!


	2. The Telling

Heya all and welcome to the second chappie of 'What is to Come'. I was bored, so I decided to type the second chapter shortly after I posted the first...special thanks goes out to Lain the FLuff-Master for being my first (and faithful) reviewer!Evil Nevermore bird plushie for you!

Disclaimer: I could own Teen Titans…but I don't...(please don't sue me! I have about two quarters that I found in the couch cushions and a lint ball! You don't want that!)

Oh, and some answers coming up, even if you didn't have any questions.

WARNING: if this chapter or the rest of this flippin story seems anything like 'Birthmark' or the ep. coming up, 'The Prophecy' it is not my fault. Entirely. I had the idea for this story long (well, not too long) before Birthmark was even mentioned on commercials. But I have ensured that this story is going way off the road and into the ditch when it comes to being like either of those episodes. There, you have been warned.

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**What is to Come**

**Chapter Two: The Telling**

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Raven's eyes widened and Xaphtious smirked mischievously, beginning to glow like Karigan, only his aura was black instead of red. Before anyone could react, a giant black fireball formed in Xaphtious' hands and he slammed it into the ground. The impact caused a cloud of dust and debris to fly up from the ground and an incredibly white light emitted from the fireball, both temporarily blinding everyone but Xaphtious.

Karigan felt a hand clasp over her mouth and her arms being restrained. Xaphtious' fiery breath blew against her cheek as he leaned in close to her.

"So you do have powers," he hissed quietly, "The Doom is coming, Crossfire, check the book." And before Karigan could throw her father over her shoulder, he was gone, almost dissolving into the air. The Titans gathered where Xaphtious had stood, coughing as the dust cleared.

"Everyone ok?" Robin asked. They all nodded.

"Dude, what was the point of that?" Beast Boy asked incredulously. No one knew the answer to his question; at least no one voiced that they knew. Two people knew what had happened and why, but they weren't about to say anything.

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When the Titans returned to the Tower Karigan and Raven both retreated to their rooms, leaving everyone else wondering why. (well, mostly about Karigan…that's normal behavior for Raven tho…) Once Karigan was safely locked in her room, she began rummaging around in the back of her closet. She soon found what she sought; a box of rarely touched but not forgotten books - Mysteries, the occasional Sci/Fi, horrors, and a few Edgar Allen Poe poem books. But at the very bottom of the collection lay a simple-looking black leather-bound book. Karigan pulled it out of the bottom of the box and sat down on her bed. This book, this simple black book held so many confusing and ancient secrets. This book had been given to Karigan on her 7th birthday by her father, the demon Xaphtious. She hadn't understood what it said or why it had been given to her at the time. Andrea had let her father give her the gift, but not stay long; the two had begun fighting over something and her mother had kicked him out, telling him to never come back.

Xaphtious never came back in the following eight years of, and Andrea had taken the book and hidden it until Karigan was 12. Karigan herself had flipped through the book once or twice, but it was in a strange runic and written language that she didn't understand at the time. As she leafed through the book now, different pictures and symbols popped out at her. Karigan stopped at a page that caught her eye. On the left side of the page was an intricately drawn picture of a ball of flame, half in white, half in black. To the right of the strange but interesting picture lay a stanza of another language that Karigan didn't understand. It seemed to be composed of the same sounds as English, so she tried her best in saying it out loud.

"Mathair is daonno, athair las muigh de anam , an paiste cruthu.." Coincidentally, Raven was outside Karigan's room when she uttered the stanza. Something in Raven's mind clicked, and she knew she had heard whatever Karigan was reading before; most likely from one of the many books there were on Azarath. Raven knocked on the door and it soon slid open, revealing Karigan.

"Where did you learn that?" Raven demanded. Karigan's eyes widened and she let Raven in.

"Um…a book." she replied slowly. "But how do you know it?" Raven looked around.

"I know my share of Prophecies." she stated. "Where's the book?" Karigan walked over

to her bed and pulled the simple-looking book out from under her pillow and handed it to Raven, who opened it. She obviously knew of it or knew what it contained because her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed.

"Where did you get this?" Raven hissed, her voice low. Karigan was stunned by the dark girl's reaction.

"From, from my father." she replied hastily.

"Xaphtious."

"Right. Wait. How did you know that?" Karigan questioned, curious.

"I heard him talking to you; more so the thoughts echoing in your head. He called you Crossfire, right?" Raven returned. Karigan nodded slowly. "Funny," Raven continued, her voice empty of all humor, "that you should come upon the page that may concern you." Karigan cocked her head to the side, puzzled.

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly.

"The caption you just began to read was a Telling, about Crossfire, and then Xaphtious called you Crossfire; piece it together." Raven replied, not meaning to sound irritated, but came across as so.

"So I'm Crossfire." Karigan responded, understanding what she had been hinting to. Raven nodded.

"Yes, but even more so your powers. Let me guess, he gave you the book on your seventh birthday." Karigan nodded

"But how do you know that?"

"Seven circles of the Underworld, seven days in a week, seven supreme rulers in the three existing planes. Seven is the age a demon fully comes into their powers." Raven explained, never changing her tone. Karigan started to say something but Raven cut her off, knowing fully well what she was going to say.

"Xaphtious isn't a supreme ruler. He's a follower, a hit man, the right hand of Trigon, a puppet. Nothing more, and possibly everything less." She explained further, "Could you read the book when you received it?" Raven continued. Karigan shook her head.

"My mom took the book away and didn't give it back until I was 12, and even then I couldn't read it, I just skimmed through it." Raven exhaled calmly, and sat down on Karigan's bed.

"Did you understand what you just read?" Karigan just stared at her like she was crazy.

"How could I?" she asked incredulously, "it's in a totally different language." Raven rolled her eyes and sighed. Karigan was not making this easy.

"When children with demon parentage settle into their powers around seven, they automatically know or recognize the language demons use. Though it's weak at first, the knowledge grows. I'm guessing you didn't understand this is because your human side is so strong. Just concentrate hard enough and you'll get it." she finished, standing up and heading for the door. "Trust me." the dark girl added, leaving a very much puzzled team mate behind.

Karigan tried her best to take all Raven had explained in. Some of it was jumbled together, but she got the main idea. Karigan had known ever since she found out she had powers that she was half demon. She had never told anyone, keeping the secret welled up inside herself, hoping that she would never have to tell anyone. But the day Karigan had always dreaded was rapidly approaching; why she didn't tell her friends when they accepted her onto the team was beyond her, but now Raven knew the truth and she had to tell they others sooner or later. But for now, Karigan was keen on reading the book and the Telling, so she pushed all other things aside and concentrated. She sighed and read the Telling again in her head. (again, say this how you will, I don't know how to either…)

_Mathair is daonna, athair lasmuigh de anam, as paiste cruthu, toil tabhair leat amach an michinniuint._

That didn't work, she was still in the dark. Karigan tried again, only placing the book against her forehead and murmuring the stanza out loud. Still nothing. She was becoming frustrated and even that was frustrating her.

"For all the bloody frikin shit!" Karigan growled fiercely. "Why the hell can't I read this!" She pounded the book maliciously, making herself feel a little better. Then her hand began to glow red as a result of her anger. Karigan rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Oh great." but refusing to give, Karigan looked down at the book while kicking her powers and emotions back into her control. But very much to her surprise she found that she understood the words on the page!

"Well that's different." she commented, beginning to read the Telling.

"Mother is human, father without soul, the child created will bring forth the Doom." (HA! I have a _different_ name for the end of the world! take _THAT!_) At the top of the page was the title, 'Telling of Crossfire', and now Karigan fully understood what Raven meant. What she had not noticed before was a good-sized caption (only because the runic language uses big, um, runes) on the other page that described this prophesized person. (if it seems corny and very confined-ish, that would be my fault. Duh. I made this up really fast, and I was half high on sugar or something…I don't much remember…)

'Born of a human mother and a soulless father, the child will be a half-demon girl. The child's powers can go to good or evil, the bringing of the Doom all down to one Choice. Her powers are of mostly elemental fire, thus the name Crossfire.'

(if you think about it, the person that supposedly 'told/wrote' this in Teen Titans land was most likely high on cheese, thus the crappy description…) Karigan looked up from the book.

"Hmph. Well that clears some things up." but then another thought came to her. "Why did Raven come here?" she asked her empty room. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more it didn't make any sense. Her room was next to Robin's way on the far left side of the Tower. The only reason Raven would come here was to talk to either of them; and Karigan knew for a fact that Robin was downstairs, so Raven had come to talk to her; but about what?

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OoO so did that clear some things up? Hopefully so, probably not. don't worry, the next chappie is going to clear and muddle things even more! The language I translated the Telling into was Gaelic, or Irish. Your pick. But anydiddlyhoo, please review. If you don't, when I dominate the world, you will be my guinea pigs on brainwashing tests!MWAHAHAHAHAHA!-gag- I choked on my mint!


	3. Answers and Confusing Notions

Hiya awesome possum people, and welcome to the third chappie of 'What is to come'! nothing much new here, except I realized sometime today that there hasn't been a new episode of Teen Titans for about a month and a half. ! yeah, outrageous. I think the last one was aired on Feb. 19 or something like that. But anydiddlyhoo, this is my favorite chapter that I have written so far. Why? I dunno. But I do know that some chapter near the end (which I haven't written, just have a good idea) is my favorite…but enough of my useless ramblings, and onto the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans now, nor do I think I ever will. Unless someone in my family wins the jackpot and gives about 5 million dollars, then maybe I could buy them! This is a frikin HUMONGOUS maybe. It'll never happen tho…

Note: this will explain and muddle even more things than the last chapter. Enjoy.

Another Note: Birthmark never happened. Erase it from existence just for this story.

Yet another note: Raven talks in this chapter. A lot. She has a voice, and it's used. Deal.

Thanks to Lain and Grumbumble for reviewing.

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**What is to Come**

**Chapter Three: Answers and Confusing Notions**

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Raven was extremely uneasy, and could feel her emotions slipping form her control. Lately, she had seen more and more signs of the Apocalypse she was destined to bring around, Xaphtious showing up being one of them. She had just figured that he was coming to deliver a message from her father or something along those lines. But finding out Xaphtious was Karigan's father had brought new fear and light to many things. Raven was destined to end the world, she knew that, but what she had long forgotten was that she wasn't supposed to bring the Doom alone.

Karigan stopped pondering Raven's visit and began looking through the book, _really_ looking at it, from beginning to end. When she opened up the cover, Karigan found the book was called the Volume of Feidhmiúil, and as she turned the pages, Karigan discovered the book contained Tellings and descriptions of the Told of all sorts. Most things in the Volume confused Karigan beyond all reason, but there were a fair few that she actually understood. A couple pages after the Telling of Crossfire was a page containing only a Telling, but on the page parallel to it laid an intricately drawn scene. The world was in flames, ever person on the face of the earth burned to death. Volcanoes around the globe erupted daily, and terrific ball of flame rained from the sky, which was in never ending darkness. But the thing that frightened Karigan the most was that everywhere in the picture demons ruled, finally freed from their underground prison. She shuddered slightly and looked to the Telling describing this horrific event, and she was shocked and confused by what she read.

'The mortal world shall fall by the hands of two, by one demon whole, fire and darkness will rise, and demons of the Underworld will reign.'

(OoO I'd love to make you guess what that means, but, the answer is revealed later on…shucks darn poo on cheese.)

"The stupid people that write these things sure do like to confuse everyone." Karigan complained crossly. "But what hell is it supposed to mean? The world's gonna end because of two people, and a demon's going to help them?" she sighed heavily. She wasn't getting anywhere and all this thinking was giving her a headache. The frustrated half-demon massaged her temples and stood up slowly. Karigan left her room and headed downstairs.

Everyone else was downstairs except Raven, and when Karigan entered the room, only Robin looked up at her. He had been talking to Star, and by the pained look on his face, it had been about an awkward subject. Robin absentmindedly dismissed Star, telling her to go talk to Beast Boy about this and walked over to Karigan.

Karigan wearily sat down on a stool at the island. "Hey."

Robin sat down to her, elbows propping him up. "Hey, is everything alright, because you kinda disappeared to your room for a while there." The dark haired girl looked into his masked eyes and sighed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired. And I've got a headache. But I sure could use a drink." Robin stared at her disbelief, eyebrow arched. Karigan just giggled and spun around on her stool. (that's so fun)

"It was a joke, Boy Blunder. I'm not gonna go get drunk on you. But tea sounds nice." She said, standing up suddenly. The fact that she had just spun around in circles a bunch eluded her, and when Karigan tried walking, she swayed and staggered like a drunkard. When she finally regained her balance and her vision cleared Robin was laughing at her.

"Now I think that is considered drunk." Karigan opened her mouth in mock protest and cuffed him playfully on the back of the head.

"There, now we can share joys of a headache. After all, misery loves company." She was lying, of course. The headache had dispersed and Karigan felt increasingly better; once she overlooked the guilty pang of not telling the others about her past.

A cup of tea and a Gamestation championship later, Karigan was feeling mostly back to herself, and was able to break away from her companions, claiming she needed to find Raven. And she did. Karigan felt the growing urge to find out why Raven had come to her room, so she succumbed to it and went in search for her dark friend. Karigan mozied up to Raven's room and received no answer when she knocked, so she tried the only other place she could think of-the roof. Sure enough, Karigan had guessed correctly and she found Raven meditating near the edge of the Tower. Raven didn't acknowledge Karigan's presence, but she did hear her come up. She basically knew why Karigan had sought her out, her emotion vibration gave her thoughts away. As Karigan sat down next to her, Raven paused her meditating and floated back down to the roof top. For awhile, no one spoke, until Karigan cleared her throat and proceeded.

"Raven, I-"

"Want to know why I was outside your room earlier." Raven interjected quietly. Karigan looked a bit surprised.

"Um, yeah, basically." Raven sighed and turned to face her teammate and friend.

"Did you read the Telling?" she asked dimly. Karigan nodded.

"Yeah, but I didn't get what it meant." Now Raven nodded and continued.

"Did you go any further in the book itself?" Again Karigan nodded.

"I read the whole thing. But none of them made much sense."

"So I take it you read about what is to come." But Karigan gave her a quizzical look. "Also known as the Doom." (what she read earlier. Mortal world shall fall and all) Now she understood.

"But what does this have to do with me?" Karigan questioned, confused.

"Everything or nothing." Raven responded quickly but quietly. "Think about it. What plus what equals one?" Raven hated speaking in riddles, but Karigan needed to figure this out on her own, even if Raven was dropping enormous hints. Karigan also hated it when Raven spoke in riddles, but the answer to the question was obvious.

"Half." She answered nonchalantly. "But what-" Then her eyes widened; Karigan understood. "Oh." She exhaled slowly. "So two half-demons are going to destroy the world?" Raven nodded.

"And you're the only one I've seen with fire powers that shows promise." She added. Now Karigan's eyes grew even bigger.

"_Me!_" she asked incredulously, pointing to herself. "_I'm_ supposed to help destroy the world?" Well who else is going to help? It's not like I know anybody that has dark powers." Raven frowned and then Karigan registered exactly what she had said; her eyes growing to the size of saucers each passing second.

"Holy shit." She breathed slowly and Raven could feel an outburst coming on. Karigan stood up quickly and began pacing. "Holy bloody shit!" she blew up suddenly, her hand on her forehead and still pacing. "I mean, I knew me having a demon father could hurt my friends or me but good cheese! This is a little extreme! I mean, can this be stopped? C'mon Raven, you're supposed to destroy the whole firkin world, doesn't that scare you in the least bit?" Raven let her pour it all out, knowing she would have a hard time dealing with this in the future. Since she had been brought up knowing this, it hadn't troubled her as much, that is, until now, when the Doom was rapidly approaching. Raven needed Karigan to shut up so she could talk and explain everything to her. Black magic found itself covering Karigan's mouth, blocking all sounds and stopping Karigan's ranting in her tracks.

"Sit." Raven ordered, embracing the silence. Karigan obeyed, but glared evilly at her friend as she continued. "I need you to listen and listen well. Yes, I am plenty scared, but if I let that show, the Doom may come earlier. And I have no clue if this can be stopped, I was never told of any way. I have been avoiding the truth since I can remember. I don't want to end the world, and I'm sure as hell not gonna let you." Karigan found herself smiling despite the situation. "But I need you to stay calm. My powers have been getting out of hand and I can feel it, my father can feel it. But I cannot let that happen. Trigon knows my resistance, and tries to bring me to his side. I thought that was what Xaphtious was doing here today; bringing a message from my father or trying to take me with him. I have resisted Trigon for 16 years, and I'm not about to give into him now. But it's you I'm worried about." She confessed. "I do not think you are weak enough to join the dark side," Raven added hastily at the look on Karigan's face. "It's just, well, he-they can force you to go with them. There are ways of breaking people, unimaginable ways, and I don't want that to happen. That's why Xaphtious came back. He is going to haunt and torment you until you break down and eventually succumb to your demonic side. That's the he wants, that's the side he can manipulate and control. The only thing demons want is power, and Xaphtious will convince your demonic side that joining with him will bring her more power. We cannot let that happen." A new hope surged through Karigan as she listened to Raven. _Like hell I'm going to join him. There's no way on this great green earth that will ever happen._ But Raven seemed to read her mind.

"You will have no choice in the matter if he brings out your demonic side. That's why we need to work on protecting your mind, setting up shields against the onslaught of things coming your way. I have maintained a safe haven all my life. That's part of the reason why I cannot feel. Too much thought and energy spent on emotions weakens my barriers." She paused, at the panic stricken look on Karigan's face. "I hate to do this to you now, after you've experienced emotions, to have to lock them all away. It will be harder for you, but it _must be done._ I know you don't want to join your father, and sometimes it will seem easier if you do; but that's exactly what Xaphtious wants to think." Karigan's reaction was worse than Raven had imagined. Her eyes were distant and glazed over, and all the color had drained from her face. She was drawing up inside herself, becoming a bottled-up basket case of emotions, the most vulnerable state to strike at. She placed her hand on Karigan's shoulder. Karigan turned her head and stared at Raven's hand saying nothing, but then she looked at Raven directly and her eyes re-focused.

"These next few weeks are going to be hard, but this is something that needs to happen, and would've regardless. And we need to tell the team about this. Things have been set into motion that cannot be undone. The Doom is coming, it can't be stopped."

**HAHAHAHOWDIDYOULIKETHATLITTLEEXPLINATIONOFEVERYTHING?**

Robin respected Karigan's privacy but she had been acting strange ever since the attack that morning. She almost never barricaded herself in her in her room and she seemed zoned out during the Gamestation championship. What puzzled him even more was when that demon, Xaphtious as Raven had called him, revealed himself, the color drained from Karigan's already pale face. And now she mysteriously excluded herself to go find Raven. He hated spying on people, most of all on his friends, his only family. But heart overcame head and he knew something was up, his gut told him. So the Boy Wonder excused himself from his remaining teammates and quietly followed Karigan from the room. He silently trailed her to Raven's room where she got no response and headed elsewhere. By the looks of it she was heading for the roof, Raven's second room almost. This was where he stopped, the door to the roof could be cracked open and he could hear then just fine. _Damn, I hate doing this; it's more like something Beast Boy would do._ (I have nothing against BB, resort back to 'Spellbound' if need be) but nevertheless he stayed put, intent on listening to what they had to say.

Much to his frustration though, the two girls had seated at a far end of the roof and spoke fairly quiet. Robin caught snippets of their opening words; something about a Volume, what was to come and the Doom. All of this information confused him greatly but he still listened on. Then heard Raven said that Karigan was the only one with fire power that showed promise. _Promise at what?_ Robin wondered, but he quickly found the answer.

"_Me_? I'm supposed to help destroy the world!" _Oh my gosh…_Robin thought, tuning everything out until Karigan began shouting at the top of her lungs about something.

"Holy bloody shit! I mean, I knew me having a demon father…" _Her father's a demon? _Then he heard the rest of she was ranting about, surprised people in Iowa couldn't hear her.

"C'mon Raven, you're supposed to destroy the whole firkin world, doesn't that scare you in the least bit!" _Damn, Raven's supposed to destroy the world too? _As he listened intently, he faintly heard Raven telling a suddenly quiet Karigan to sit. Robin listened amazed as Raven more altogether right there than she probably did all day. She talked of her father, and her resistance, and some other things that Robin didn't hear.

"You will have no choice in the matter if he brings out your demonic side. That's why we need to work on protecting your mind, setting up shields against the onslaught of things coming your way. I have maintained a safe haven all my life. That's part of the reason why I cannot feel. Too much thought and energy spent on emotions weakens my barriers."

Robin's eyes widened. So this was why Raven rarely smiled, barely laughed, and never opened up. He didn't hear what she said next, he was too immersed in his own thoughts. But what he did manage to hear shock him through and through.

"These next few weeks are going to be hard, but this is something that needs to happen, and would've regardless. And we need to tell the team about this. Things have been set into motion that cannot be undone. The Doom is coming, it can't be stopped."

Robin's heart went out to Karigan. She was so accustomed to feeling whatever she wanted that tying down her emotions would be extremely difficult.

"Damn, this sucks." He murmured to himself, standing up and going back down to the kitchen.

**HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**

Raven suddenly jerked her head towards the door, feeling intense emotion emanating from it. She knew who was behind it.

"Robin." She murmured under her breath. _Not now Robin. If you heard everything, you would know what she has to do. Don't provoke her emotions. _Raven thought desperately. Karigan had heard Raven say Robins name and that snapped her out of her reverie.

"When do we tell the others?" She asked softly, looking out over the city they protected. Raven stared at the same thing Karigan was.

"Now would be good."

The two half demons decided that they were only going to tell everyone else that Karigan had a demon and that she was going to undergo some new training to keep her powers in check. When the two reached the living room everyone else was already down there doing their own thing. Karigan tried to meet Robin's eyes but he kept turning away. A sharp pang of fear jabbed at her heart. Did he know? _But how could he?_ Karigan asked herself. She let Raven do most of the talking and spoke only to answer her teammates' questions.

"This would basically explain why I went berserk last month…" They all knew what incident Karigan was referring to; every single one of them wondered why the things that happened did occur.

"But why didn't you tell us earlier?" Robin asked quietly. Karigan was finally able to meet his gaze, but his emotions were hidden by the mask.

She shrugged sheepishly. "I'm not entirely sure actually. I guess that since I had just gained a new family, I didn't want to lose it again." Karigan replied, still staring at Robin.

"Hey man, we're not gonna ditch ya cuz your dad's a demon." Cyborg piped up.

"Yeah dude. That'd be like getting rid of Raven, and she's been here from the beginning." Beast Boy put in enthusiastically. "Plus, I think she might blow us all up before we even had the chance." He added quietly so only Karigan was supposed to hear. But Raven heard him and Beast Boy's boxers magically pulled down over his head. Karigan smirked to herself; Beast Boy had no clue how true his words might be. Soon after they all split up and went their separate ways. Beast Boy and Cyborg continued their game, Raven to her room, and Star to the 'mall of shopping'. Karigan knew Robin wanted to talk to her, but she wanted to be left alone. As she headed for the door the Boy Wonder caught her by the arm and turned her to face him.

"Kari," he began, looking her directly in the eyes. "Why didn't you tell the team the truth?" Karigan looked over Robin's at Cyborg and Beast Boy, who were cheering and arguing over petty rules and battles.

"Because they don't need to know, not yet. _You_ didn't need to know this early." She answered, looking back at Robin. "This is my burden and weighing it down on their shoulders would destroy them. They would think that they needed to help me-us- out, but in the end no one can help us. Not even you Robin." She added the last sentence to make a point.

"But-" Robin started, but Karigan cut him off.

"You can't, so please don't try. If you know what I must do, then you know I can't feel from here on out. The only thing you can do to help me is don't argue, and steer clear of me. Even the sight of you could threaten my existence. So please, _please_ don't object, _this is the only way._" She finished, pulling towards her and hugging him tightly. "Goodbye for awhile, Robin." She whispered, pulling away and walking out the door, with Robin's saddened eyes following her out.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

OoO so you likey? I hope so. This chapter took for firkin ever to type, mostly due to internet distractions. I can't say much, because my mom threatened to ground me if I wasn't off in 15 minutes. It's been 20.


	4. First Attack

Ellu everyone and welcome to the fourth chappi of 'What is to Come'. Good news! 'The Prophecy' is due to come out June 4 or something! I feel I am getting confused expressions…(or not) but yeah, I'm confoozled too. Anydiddlyhoo, I'm not getting very far on the next chapter, but I decided to be nice and post this one anyways. I'm expecting at least 7 or 8 chapters all together. Hey, I can only have so much happen. Deal. As for anything else, there's nothing to say. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: **_IF_** I owned Teen Titans…yeah, you're right, there isn't even a chance in my dreams of that…

Lain: Surprisingly, I actually thought of taking the story in that direction, with Robin and Raven and all…but I still don't know what I'm going to do. Hell, I don't even know what I'm going to write next…except the things I do know that I'm going to write next…hm.

No notes, except the notes I do have.

Note: This chapter is basically a filler to get to the next and to have Karigan train more. There.

**TITANSGOTITANSGOTITANSGOTITANSGOTITANSGOTITANSGOTITANSGOTITANSGOTITANSGO!**

**What is to Come**

**Chapter 4our: First Attack**

**AKBVALWKHRBVWSAWIUHVBAIEURHBVPAIORUHGVBPAIDRUHGKDJVBKERUGVOEVHOW**

Karigan fled to the sanctuary of her room, tears flowing freely down her face. She hated doing that to Robin, hated her father for the indirect cause. Raven had warned her that it would be hard, but she failed to mention the agonizing pain of abandoning Robin and lying to her only family. But what she probably hated the most was that she pitied herself. She, Karigan, usually an incredibly strong person, has lowered to pity herself, and that just made the pity party go on. She had been pacing furiously, but threw herself down on her bed in frustration.

"Damn you Xaphtious." She mumbled into her pillow, which was getting soaked by the unquenchable cascade of tears. Thoroughly agitated with herself and practically hating the entire Underworld, Karigan got up once again when it hit her. Terrific and horrible images of death, decay, darkness and flame plagued her mind in quick, nauseating plashes. Karigan staggered back, clutching her head in agony and fell to the floor. It had begun. Xaphtious had begun his attacks on Karigan's mind and she was totally unprepared. She gasped in pain as unconsciousness edged closer. _Raven…_she whispered out mentally, hoping her dark friend would hear her plea for aid.

Raven was in the middle of meditation when Karigan's pain filled voice knocked her clear out of the air. The dark girl sat up quickly, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. The pain emanating from Karigan was incredibly strong, so strong that she could feel it way on the other side of the Tower.

Raven knew what was going on, "Shit." She cursed loudly, phasing through every wall in the way to get to Karigan's room faster. The pain stopped almost as suddenly as it had come and shortly after Raven reached her friends room. She found Karigan unconscious on the floor and quickly checked for a pulse; faint, but definitely there. Raven breathed a sigh of relief and levitated Karigan onto her bed. She knew that this was the lightest of attacks on Karigan's mind, and that much worse was to come. Xaphtious hadn't wasted any time on getting his daughter to his side, and that was what had frightened Raven the most. But if she couldn't get Karigan to wake up soon, she feared Xaphtious might have already won so early in the game.

The nauseating pain had left and all the remained was an ebbing headache. Karigan opened her eyes but found herself in an entirely different place from where she passed out. She tried to stand up, but her body didn't respond to her brain's will.

"Settle down Kari." A voice echoed throughout the landscape. Karigan stopped trying to move.

"Mom?" she said, recognizing the voice. Andrea's short figure appeared in front of Karigan in response to her question. Her mother smiled.

"Kari, I need you to listen. You are trapped within your mind and your demonic side threatens to break loose." Karigan's eyes widened at the dangerous situation at hand as Andrea continued. "Your father attacked your mind with an onslaught you were not prepared for. This is only his first strike; you cannot let him win so early on! I need you to fight this, you are stronger than even he can imagine. You are my daughter!" she added the last bit, thinking that that explained Karigan's strength. Despite the situation Karigan found herself smiling.

"I will, don't you worry. I am _not_ going down without a fight." She responded, strength renewed.

Andrea smiled. "That's my girl." She said, before fading completely and Karigan opened her eyes.

Karigan was back in her room in her bed with Raven hovering next to it. When she sat up Raven opened her eyes.

"I thought I'd lost you." She said as evenly as possible, but relief was evident in her voice.

Karigan grinned. "I'm not going to go that easily!" Raven smiled slightly, glad that her friend was alright.

"That was just the smallest of attacks on your mind. They are going to worsen each time Xaptious strikes." At this Karigan's smile slid form her face.

"Then we had better work on my defense then hadn't we?" Karigan replied.

* * *

"So I basically have to block out all of my emotions, talk and listen less and meditate like I was addicted to it?" Karigan asked after Raven had revealed the basics in her training. Her dark teacher nodded. 

"Also, cut back on interaction with the others. It'll be harder since you're a people's person."

"Yeah, but you could've been an outgoing person too if you had even been allowed to." Karigan added out of the blue.

"Somehow I don't think I would be even then." Raven added quietly, but smiling slightly nevertheless. "But this is only the easier part." She added.

Karigan stared at her in dismay. "Only the easier stuff? But what's the harder part?"

"Maintaining shields while you sleep." Karigan nearly fainted.

(WARNING weird stuff that I probably wrote when I was high (not really) coming up. It just popped into my head. I can't help that.)

Robin still hadn't come to terms with this recent turn of events. He tried to act as he usually would and join in games and such with the other Titans, but his efforts were fruitless. His mind kept on wandering back to Karigan, and everything Raven had explained to her. _What does this mean?_ He asked himself. Then Robin snorted dully. What a stupid question. A little voice in his head laughed hysterically at him, and it sounded strangely like Gizmo, not Robin's usual self. _It means, Boy Blunder, that you have to stay away from her or she might kill us all! _The voice cackled evilly. Robin grimaced inwardly at the raw and plain truth. He wanted more than anything to go and comfort Karigan, reassure her that everything was going to be alright. _Doing that will only make things worse._ Another voice in his head commented. Robin shook his head violently. _What the hell is this? Invasion of the consciences? _But deep down he knew that both the annoying voices were right. Karigan had asked that he stay away from her, she trusted him, and going against her wishing just to help her through a tough time might be the end in a nutshell. _She's strong enough to make it through. _Then and there Robin developed a deep respect for Karigan and Raven for having to go through such rough times without the help or comfort of anyone but themselves. IF this was how it was going to be, he would support them with everything he had, and stay well away from Karigan. Robin wondered how long it would be before the team began to notice why Karigan was changing so drastically, but even then he would choose Karigan over the team for the safety of the world. Little did he know, that's exactly what it would come down to.

* * *

"Just find you inner self; the part of your being that always sleeps. Grasp it gently and relax." Raven explained to Karigan, drifting off into her own meditative trance. The two had begun the basic steps of mind barriers and proceeded to meditation. Karigan was now seated on Raven's bed and Raven level with her in the air. 

Karigan soon felt herself slip into her mind and the world around her became obsolete. Then she heard Raven's voice in her head.

_Good. Now I want you to take all your energy and thought spent on emotions and form a wall. Don't feel. It will be shocking at first, but you need to be empty of all emotions. _Karigan tried to do what Raven requested, and the results made her shudder.

_It's so cold. _She thought wearily, but the wall was up.

_Good, now I'll test them._ Before Karigan could react her wall began to shake, and pretty soon the foundation began to crumble. Raven stopped the assault before the wall gave way completely.

_Don't. _She told Karigan.

_Don't what?_ Karigan asked confused.

_Don't think about him. It could kill you._ Karigan didn't respond, knowing fully well who she was talking about.

_Focus, _came Raven's voice again. _You _need_ to do this. _Karigan sighed and focused all her emotional energy on the wall as if her life depended on it, her life _would _depend on it.

_Again. _Raven warned before striking. This time, Karigan's wall shook very little, and held strong. _Much better, _Raven praised, but Karigan wasn't happy, she couldn't do happy anymore.

_Are you tired?_ Raven asked.

_No. I need to learn this. I don't want to go through another incident like today. _Karigan said emptily.

_Good. Slowly le-_ But Karigan didn't hear the rest of her words, she had already let go and entered the waking world. Raven joined her a split second later and aced as if nothing had happened. (If you let go of yourself too fast, there could be damaging effects)

"Ok, maintaining your shields while you sleep is tricky, but can be helped along." Raven started out, still floating in the air. "There are certain herbs that help maintain a dreamless sleep, so your emotions don't have a chance to run amuck." Then Raven stood up and went to a drawer in her dresser, opened it up, and pulled out a small satchel.

"You like herbal tea, correct?" she questioned, continuing after Karigan nodded. "Every night before you go to sleep, drink some tea and mix this in it." Raven finished, handing Karigan the satchel.

"So this is why you drink so much tea." Karigan commented, taking the herbs. Raven's mouth curved up a little in return.

"This helps a little, but there are still things that you need to learn." She stated, sitting down on her bed across from Karigan. "I can only teach you so much, but in the end, it's all down to you." Karigan swallowed and nodded; she was ready.

"Xaphtious won't likely attack tonight, just once a day at any given moment; due to the attacks taking a considerable amount of strength and concentration." Karigan tucked this bit of information back in her mind for later uses, if need be.

"So are you tired?" Karigan asked. Raven shook her head.

"My attacks and Xaphtious' are different, mine require little will power, mostly due to me being so close to you, and his have to pass through two dimensions which tires him."

"Kind of like jet lag, huh?" Karigan commented humorously. Raven said nothing but smirked at the thought.

"It's hard to explain, and the skill is more like an instinct taking over when your mind is under siege. But when you sleep, tap into your mind enough that you would know that it is being attacked, but enough to still be in the conscious world. Is that clear?" _About as clear as mud._ Karigan thought, but she nodded anyway.

"Do we have to just wait until I fall asleep?" Raven nodded.

"But luckily we started this late in the day so we won't have to wait long." She said, standing up and heading for the door. "I don't suggest you hang around with the others quite yet, but you can if you want." The dark girl finished, walking out the door. Karigan sighed and fell backwards flat onto Raven's bed, this was going to be harder than she thought.

Taking Raven's advice and steering clear of the rest of her teammates, Karigan stood up and wandered aimlessly out the door. Her mind was heading for the roof, but her feet disobeyed and carried her to her room, where she collapsed on her bed in neglected exhaustion.

Raven let Karigan get deeper into sleep before she bombarded her friends' mind. Aside from the fact that she had forgotten to drink some tea with the herbs, Karigan's wall withstood Raven's attack fairly well. Figuring it was better safe than sorry Raven made Karigan a cup of tea and took it to her room for a dreamless slumber.

Karigan wearily cracked her eyes open just as Raven was leaving her room. The sleepy girl wondered what her dark friend was doing there, but then glimpsed the cup of steaming tea on her bedside table. Karigan slowly sat up and picked up the mug of tea. She presumed Raven had added the herbs for a dreamless sleep and slowly began sipping at it. The hot liquid burned down her throat, but soothed Karigan all the same. She checked her shields and relaxed a little when she found that they were still in place. The clock on her nightstand shone bright red in the dim lighting of her room; 10:00. Karigan sighed and set the empty cup beside her clock and laid back down, intent on getting a good night's sleep for tomorrow; never knowing how much she would need it.

* * *

I don't like this chapter. Well I do, but I don't like what I have in it. I would've liked to have included more, but I couldn't think of anything else to put in it. I hope that it cleared some things up, but probably not. Oh wellies. I'll try to get the next chapter out this week or next weekend, but I'm not making any promises. So until then. 


	5. Burning Thoughts of the Mind

Ellu everybody and welcome to the next chappie of my story. I won't delay anybody that wants to read this and just get on with it.

Disclaimer: I simply and unfortunately do not own Teen Titans. You have no legal grounds to sue me, except for certain things unmentionable in this disclaimer.

* * *

**What is to Come**

**Chapter 5ive: Burning Thoughts of the Mind  
****

* * *

**

Xaphtious straightened his floor-length black robes and stepped inside the Circle. Trigon, his master, sat upon an obsidian throne that sparkled menacingly in the black flames. Xaphtious bowed curtly and strode closer to Trigon.

"The first attack has been sent and the girls mind was breached. She was an easy target; weak, unprepared, but she has the will to survive. A stronger attack will be needed if she is to join us."

Trigon said nothing of this at first, but then he looked up at his 'puppet'.

"Good," his deep voice boomed, "My wretched daughter has most likely told her everything, but you need to tell her more. Go." Trigon commanded, looking back into a dark orb suspended in mid-air. Xaphtious bowed again and took his leave, prepared to make the journey back to Earth as he exited the Circle.

* * *

Karigan woke up feeling refreshed and reenergized. She was actually looking forward to the day ahead when yesterdays drastic turn of events came flooding back to her. Karigan bit back a pitiful sob and slowly moved to get ready. Her wall was still in place and she reinforced it just as a precaution. The team would undoubtedly notice her change in personality and her cool nature and ask questions. That alone made her want to stay confined in her room; that and she couldn't bear seeing Robin. She had worked so hard yesterday at managing her shields that she had neglected her own feelings, which now came back in an overwhelming flood. Karigan sighed, disheartened, and slumped against the door, sliding all the way down to the floor. She was wallowing is self-pity again, and she didn't like the feeling at all. Her head met her knees and she sat in the fetal position trying to pull herself together. She had to be strong; not give the others a reason to worry. If Karigan really didn't want them to find out, this was not the time to be weak. Sighing, she stood up and slowly shuffled downstairs, hoping the others would take her quite demeanor as her just being tired. 

The kitchen was noisy, as usual, and Cyborg and Beast Boy were arguing over what to eat as usual. Karigan quietly slipped past everyone and readied some tea; but she did not go unnoticed.

"Hey Kari," Cyborg suddenly said. "What should we eat: waffles or tofu crap?" Karigan's eyes roamed over Cyborg and Beast Boy; they were so carefree.

"Both." She responded simply. Her two friends' eyes lit up and the breakfast preparations began. Karigan intended to disappear to the roof quietly but her plan was thwarted by Raven silently phasing from her room to next to Karigan. Her face was grim and her jaw set. She didn't need t say much, but what she did say was enough.

"He's here." Karigan didn't ask questions, but followed Raven up to her room without making a sound.

When they reached the seclusion of Raven's room, Raven spoke first.

"He's a little ways out of town in forest region. Most likely a hot spot for in-dimension jumping." Karigan nodded and her tired eyes to Raven's violet ones. She wondered what he wanted, but didn't voice her thoughts.

"How will I get there?" Karigan asked.

"I can phase you." She responded. "Do you want me to stay?" Karigan shook her head.

"He won't try to kill me, he needs me. So I'll be okay. I'll just tell you when we're through." Raven nodded as ebony power engulfed both herself and Karigan.

The two reached the forest in little under five minutes. Karigan turned back to Raven.

"If the others wonder where I am, just tell them I'm sleeping or something and don't want to be disturbed." Raven nodded.

"Good luck." And she was gone.

Karigan sighed and turned to the forest; she really should've stayed in bed today.

What little sunlight that filtered through the canopy of leaves and limbs threw shadows on the ground, creating the illusion that it was mid-afternoon at least. And a prefect place for her father to hide. Karigan frowned and looked around, and upon seeing nothing, began trudging through the underbrush. Thorns and branches tore at her face, arms, and legs, irritating Karigan beyond al healthy means and creating small, red, itching scratches wherever they touched. She didn't want to heal herself; she might need the energy involved in the process.

_How much farther can this stupid forest go?_ Karigan thought, her patience thinning. Luckily for her and the forest in her way she could see an opening in the thick vegetation.

"Finally." She sighed, walking faster. As soon as Karigan broke free from the forest she found herself in an empty clearing, seemingly in the middle of the woods. A faint breeze blew through the clearing, lifting Karigan's charcoal locks and gently wafting them about in the air. She turned her head left and right, figuring if Xaphtious was to be anywhere, it would be here.

"Hello, Crossfire." Came a raspy voice from behind her. Karigan whirled around and saw her father step from the shadows. "I hope you didn't have any trouble finding me." He said, obviously noticing Karigan's myriad of scrapes and cuts. She narrowed her eyes.

"None at all. What do you want?" she demanded briskly. When Xaphtious had first spoken, he greeted her in some language that she figured she wouldn't understand; but to her great surprise Karigan found herself responding in the same language, totally without her meaning to. Xaphtious smirked and began circling Karigan like a vulture with its prey.

"Never mind that, we'll get to it later," he responded, waving his hand in the air. "So how'd you mother? Holding her own I assume."

"She's dead, no thanks to you." Karigan spat angrily. He had no right to ask of her.

Much to Karigan's guilty pleasure, a look of shock passed over her father's face. The edges of Karigan's mouth lifted up a bit. She had a weapon against him, though she hated to use it. _Sorry mom…_Karigan silently apologized before continuing.

She stared at her father defiantly, as if daring him to do or say something.

"Oh yes," she began dramatically, "Dear ol' Andreas dead, gone, six feet under and decaying in a wooden box. Not like you cared though." Karigan watched him in mild satisfaction as each of her words struck him like a blow across the face.

"Oh sorry, you didn't know?" she asked, mocking his shock. "Well you would've known had you stuck around long enough. What did you expect when you joined Trigon? That he would _share_ his power?" Karigan asked intent on planting the horrendous seed of doubt in his twisted mind.

"You'd probably help him destroy the world and whatnot, and he would keep you around for lowly servant duties for awhile. But then he would get bored toying with you, being the master and you the puppet. He'd realize you have power; power that he can use and grow stronger from. You'd be no more important than the million of-"

"Silence." Xaphtious hissed, the pure venom and malice in his voice stopping Karigan in mid-sentence. "I did not come here to listen to the ramblings of those that know nothing. And you are those." Even though he concealed it well, Karigan could tell the seed was planted, and that was all that mattered.

Karigan crossed her arms over her chest. "Well then what did you come here for, if not to hear the truth?" Xaphtious scowled.

"I came here to propose on offer; one that might appease at least part of you." Karigan raised her eyebrows.

"An offer, eh? Let me guess, if I join you without a fuss you'll let my friends live, right? Well newsflash. I know for a fact that if I go all demony I won't even know who my friends are, let alone be able to stop myself from killing them." She watched as a small tick began to form on his forehead; demons were so predictable.

"So sorry, no, you can take your offer an shove it up your-"

"You could see you mother again." Karigan stopped short; Xaphtious has switched back to English. She could see Andrea again? _Keep your emotions in check._ Raven's voice echoed in her mind. Now she knew what Xaphtious was trying to do. Karigan slammed all of her strength into her shields just as he sent an attack. She closed her eyes briefly and sighed; that had been close.

"Nice try, but I'm more prepared now." Karigan said, staring bravely into Xaphtious' eyes. He frowned and continued walking in a circle around her.

"Yes, you are more prepared. I see Trigon's destiny denying daughter has been teaching you a few tricks. But honestly, how long do you think you can go on? I'm fully demon, and I'll outlive you and your precious friends. And I will not stop hunting you. You cannot deny what is to come." Xaphtious smirked. "And besides, the demon in you is growing stronger, and you cannot suppress who you are."

Karigan's stone-set face did not falter. "I can, and will, and there is no way while I'm still me that I am going to join you pathetic wastes of internal organs." Xaphtious' smirk disappeared from his face.

"I won't make you wait then, because you won't be in control of you much longer." Then a midnight black aura formed around him. "I'm guessing you're immune to normal fires." _How did he know that?_ "But I think that demonic fire might do the trick." Karigan's eyes widened. Yes, she was immune to normal fires due to her powers, but demonic fires she had no experience with whatsoever. _Stay away from his fire._ Raven's voice echoed in her head. _It will harm you like regular fire does humans._ Karigan groaned inwardly. Things just kept getting better and better for her.

"You're not going to kill me." She said quickly, gathering as much energy and power as she could.

"Wrong." Xaphtious retorted. "I am going to destroy _you_, so you are a hindrance to the demon inside you no longer."

_Ok, maybe he is going to kill me._ Karigan thought a split-second before a black fire ball flew at her. She barely dodged that one when a whole stream came flooding for her. They all bounced off of a firewall she made and then Karigan sent her own group of missiles, thinking they wouldn't do much. She was right. Xaphtious merely stopped them with a wave of his hand and crushed them from existence with the squeeze of his fist. Karigan stopped, frozen in shock. This didn't bode well for her. She had two basic choices: fight, and possibly dies now, or flee and possibly die later. She decided on both, and not to die at all. But while she had been forming her plan, Xaphtious had disappeared, and even worse for her, clouds had covered the sun, bathing the clearing in shadow. Karigan turned in a circle where she stood, but saw no sign of her father.

"Dammit." She cursed under her breath, straining to hear any sound of Xaphtious, and she heard him…too late. A twig snapped behind her and Karigan barely, just as one of his black fireballs came rocketing towards her. The missile was aimed for the top of her back, but ended up connecting with her shoulder and knocking her roughly to the ground. Raven had been right about his fire. Karigan had to roll over on her back to keep the greedy flames from engulfing her whole backside. Luckily for her, she put the fire out quickly and her burn wasn't too bad; she couldn't feel the pain yet, and she still couldn't risk healing it.

_Raven, I'm gonna need you help in a few minutes. _Karigan warily stood up and turned to face Xaphtious, but he had disappeared yet again.

"What are you Xaphtious? Craven? You attack a person when they're down." Karigan shouted, rotating on the spot and gripping her right shoulder in growing pain. She stood deathly still and quiet, hoping to catch a sound of her father. A faint breeze rolled through the clearing, rustling the leaves on the trees and blowing Karigan's hair asunder. The hair on the back of her neck rose up, and she had the feeling that she was being watched. Karigan spun around, drawing up a wall of fire in front of her at the same time. Xaphtious had returned from the shadow form and fired a single, blazing, black ball of flames right as Karigan had turned around. The fireball rocketed towards Karigan at an alarming speed, but everything seemed to be in slow-motion through Karigan's eyes. Karigan focused all of her energy on bracing her wall for impact, but the missile passed through her defense like a knife through butter. It rammed into Karigan's middle and sent her flipping through the air and landing hard on the ground ten feet from where she had been standing. Xaphtious smiled, she wasn't getting up.

_It doesn't have to be this hard…_he spoke to her mind while advancing on her like a predator toying with its prey.

Raven had been in the middle of lying to Robin about Karigan's whereabouts when she received her message. _Raven, I'm gonna need your help in a few minutes._ She shooed Robin away in a huff and silently phased to the forest when he was gone.

Xaphtious was readying another fireball when Raven appeared and knelt down next to Karigan. Raven felt for her friends' pulse and upon finding it, tried to wake up her friend. She looked up at Xaphtious and deflected the stream of fireballs he sent at her with an ebony shield. He looked frustrated at this, and the thought made Raven smirk. She knew she had to get Karigan out of here as soon as possible; so as silently as she had come, Raven left with her fellow teammate without saying a word.

* * *

Karigan groggily opened her eyes and groaned. Where was she? Her eyes focused and she was staring at a rust coloured ceiling-her rust coloured ceiling; Raven must've brought her here. Karigan wearily tried to sit up, but flopped back down on the pillow when that simple movement brought her immense pain in her right shoulder and middle.

"Ow, dammit." She mumbled, her breath coming in short ragged gasps; she had forgotten about her burns.

Karigan wondered how long she had been unconscious, and when she waved the curtains away from the window, it had obviously been a long time. The sky was dark and dotted withincandescent stars and the moonlight streamed in through the window.

Her door slid open and Karigan jerked her head in its direction, startled by the noise. Raven silently strode in, a look of relief evident on her pale face. At first they said nothing, but then Karigan looked up at her friend and smiled.

"Thanks." She said. Raven also smiled.

"Don't mention it." Karigan again tried to sit up, and this time succeeded with Raven's assistance.

"I hope you didn't have trouble with everyone else." She commented. Raven sat in her meditative stance a few feet off the ground, but level with Karigan and closed her eyes.

"Only Robin came up looking for you, but I told him you were meditating. That's when I heard your call. Beast Boy and Starfire were looking for you when you were unconscious and I simply told them you were sleeping." Karigan nodded and stared off into space. Raven said nothing for a minute but then noticed Karigan's silence, opened an eye and stared at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, opening the other eye as well. Karigan snapped out of her reverie.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing." Raven frowned.

"I'm an empath, and it is _not_ nothing." Karigan sighed, accepting defeat.

"Is there really any hope for the future? Can we really stop ourselves from destroying the world?" Raven didn't have an answer for her. Karigan looked down at her hands.

"He won't stop. Not until I'm out of the way or he is dead." Now she looked up at Raven, her hands clenched in fists. "And do you know what he asked me? 'How long do you think you can go on.' I didn't have an answer for him; I _still_ don't have an answer. I didn't realize until then that this could go on for years to come. The matter is, I don't know if _I_ can go on that long." She paused again and slumped back against her pillow. "There has got to be a way to end this." She muttered distantly. Raven still said nothing, but was very sure there was no way around their fate; and for the first time since she had known Karigan, the empathy felt her fear and hopelessness. It wasn't just about protecting themselves and one city from people like Slade anymore; this had escalated to the whole planets safety and now they had a more formidable foe. That was the very prospect that frightened Karigan the most.

"You should get some sleep." Raven said, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Are you going to heal your burns now?" Karigan shook her head.

"No, I don't have the energy now. It will have to wait until tomorrow." Raven nodded and helped her slide back down flat on the bed and she silently left.

Karigan stared at her ceiling and felt the gentle tug of sleep pulling her away from consciousness. She knew something had to be done, but the lurking feeling that something bad was going to happenremained strong in her mind.

* * *

OoO so how was it? That's nice. Sorry this took so long to get out, but I always have distractions when I start to type, so I just decided to sit down, listen to nothing, watch nothing, and type. No interruptions. And I guess it worked, eh? Ah well…the cool thing is I got yet _another_ idea for a story last week-ish and some more ideas on that story popped into my head two nights ago, and it's a one-shot. Short, simple, _and_ Rae/Rob pairing! But it won't be out for awhile. I'm going to finish writing this one, write more on the other one I just posted and have only one chappie out for, and try to get through school without going crazy. But that's not likely. At least on the school thing. I already am crazy. Anydiddyhoo, I remembered that I used to give little excerpts of the upcoming chapter, so I guess that's what I'll try to keep doing! So here ya go.

"We can help you guys only if you let us." OoO who's speaking? And who needs help? OoO

mind you, the next chapter is going to be long, and I'm still in the process of writing it. So don't expect anything too soon. But I am sick, so maybe I'll get to stay home. But I hope not on Friday…we're taking a field trip to King's Island. fun fun! Haha, now you can be jealous. Or not. But I'll shut up now and let you review!


	6. Unleashed

Ellu kiddies and welcome to the next chapter of 'What is to Come'. I have officially decided that I am not going to change the title. It fits, and I've had people say the same line at least twice. So, pleh. I'm happy, (I think) only 9 days of school left. I'm not excited yet, but the most I'm looking forward is writing my heart out all summer. But anyhoo…

Disclaimer: I simply and sadly (for me) do not own Teen Titans. Please don't sue me. You'll be paying for more for the lawyer than what you'll get from me. Like "cutting your throat to cure a nosebleed." (some quote from some dude that did some important thing in history)

Lain: Yeah, I can see where he sounds like a Harry Potter character. I never meant for him to appear like that, but I guess he does. Maybe Snape, only with short hair. And I can't wait for book 6 either! My dad got me a free voucher thing for when it comes out for my birthday. So now I can just walk into Books A Million and get one!

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**What is to Come**

**Chapter 6ix: Unleashed**

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Karigan started off her slumber peacefully, but since she didn't have the herbs in her tea, she was having a dream she wasn't supposed to have, but one that would help her greatly.

_Karigan was in a vast cave. Where, she wasn't sure. As she looked ahead she saw Xaphtious, or a figure that looked like him. She couldn't tell, her vision was blurred and unfocused. A split-second later a gigantic black ball of something, probably flames, came hurtling towards her, or whoever's eyes she was looking through. Her hands raised and ejected a large fireball of her own, and after it left, she felt strangely empty inside. The two missiles collided and produced a blinding white light that soon went dark. _

_She had left the cavernous room and entered a shadowed circle of stone pillars. About ten feet in front of her was a large, glowing obsidian throne, and on it sat a large red demon with flowing white hair and four yellow eyes. She had no idea who it was, but he looked extremely angry, and trying to control it. _

"_This changes everything." He growled, standing up. "Fool!" he roared, pummeling one of the pillars with lasers from his eyes. Karigan didn't know who or what he was referring to, but she was curious nevertheless._

Karigan snapped her eyes open and found herself back in her bedroom with sunlight peeking through the curtains. Groaning, she rolled over on her side gently and slowly. She'd have to heal her burns, at least after she had something to eat. Karigan gingerly clambered to her feet and headed for the bathroom, keen on enjoying a long, hot shower.

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Raven quickly opened her eyes and the bright sun blinded her for a moment. She quickly blinked it off and scanned the air for power traces. There was a strong stream that rang out like a fog horn; it was Xaphtious. Raven hurriedly stood up and rushed downstairs from the roof to stop what could destroy them all.

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Karigan reentered her room, drying her hair her hair with a towel as she went. Suddenly a dizzy spell swept over her, halting her movement and making her lean against the room for support. Flashes of black skies raining great balls of fire appeared in Karigan's mind, arousing the demon within her. She saw each of her friends, all burning and their mouths twisted in silent screams. There was a new feeling growing within her; a surge of unknown and uncontrollable power. That power was strong and deadly, and it desperately wanted to escape. Her demon side was getting stronger; feeding off the power Xaphtious sent via the attacks, and it wanted out. Karigan sank to the floor and screamed until her throat hurt, but she didn't stop, she couldn't stop.

Everyone that was awake in the Tower looked in the direction of Karigan's scream, the same thing going through each of their minds.

"What the-" Cyborg whispered, looking at Starfire and Robin in confusion. They both stared back at him as the doors of the common room opened and Beast Boy strode in, fully awake.

"Dude, who screamed?" no one voiced an answer, but Robin had a pretty good idea on who did.

"It's probably nothing, but I'll go check it out." Robin said, standing up and walking out of the room. As soon as the doors slid shut behind him, he took off for Karigan's room at a flat-out run. He knew fully well what was going on, and vow or no vow, he was going to have to confront Karigan or Raven.

Raven reached Karigan's room shortly before she screamed and she could instantly tell that the situation was _not_ good. She rushed forward to help her friend but Karigan held out her hand a blasted Raven against the wall. Raven looked extremely shocked, but she steeled her expression when she realized what was going on. Karigan lifted her head from her hand and gave Raven a lopsided evil grin. Her eyes were exactly like her father's-completely and utterly black, and her skin was paler than even Raven's, almost to point where she looked albino. Karigan lifted her left arm and squeezes her hand shut, cutting off Raven's air supply. Raven collapsed to the floor on all fours, clawing at her throat for air.

"A-Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She gasped, knocking Karigan off her feet and breaking the hold she had on her.

Raven stood up, her eyes glowing white. "Karigan, snap out of it; the demon's not in full control yet." She figured it wouldn't do much, but she had to at least try. Her friend grinned even wider.

"Karigan no longer controls me." She spat, her voice deeper and raspier, sounding more like a man's voice than her normal one. Raven rose into the air, her hands crackling with ebony energy, preparing for the worst.

Karigan was suffocating in her own mind, suspended in a vast expanse of darkness, all senses failed her. Her eyes were open, wide with fright, and she could see a shadowy outline of what was going on outside the realm of her mind. Her demon side was almost in full control, and it (or she?) was fighting Raven mercilessly. Karigan watched helplessly in horror as the battle waged between her friend and herself. She needed a distraction and soon, something that would occupy her demon's attention and power for a moment so she could break free from her prison. Karigan could feel herself growing weaker with each passing second, the demon sapping all her power and energy for its uses. The turn of events outside her mind brought Karigan's focus away from her musings. The demonic Karigan seemed to have the upper hand, and she could Raven's strength slowly slipping. Raven was stalling a blazing fireball with her powers, as the demonic Karigan kept pressing the missile on her. Cracks were forming in Raven's ebony shield; Karigan gasped and cupped her hand over her mouth, praying for any kind of distraction.

Robin sprinted up the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator. Why did all of the rooms have to be on the top floor? When he got closer and closer to Karigan's room the feeling that he wouldn't like what he found grew in the pit of his stomach. But that didn't stop him; upon reaching her room, he opened the door and was ready to barge in, but the scene before him stopped Robin short. Raven was hanging in the air, and from looks of it, using all her strength to stop the fireball in front of her from coming any closer. The ball of flame undoubtedly came from Karigan, who had her back to him, but Robin wasn't sure why the two were dueling. Robin's entrance had attracted Raven's attention for a split-second, causing the fireball to inch closer.

"Karigan, no!" Robin cried, lunging for Karigan at top speed. Karigan turned at the sound of his voice, her captivating emotionless eyes meeting Robin's a split-second before he tackled her to the floor.

A new hope surged through the trapped Karigan-her distraction had come. As soon as she and Robin hit the ground and her demon side became momentarily distracted, Karigan fought for control over her body. The miniature battle sapped her remaining strength, but in the end she prevailed. All her senses came flooding back in an onslaught of confused, familiar but welcome feelings. She gasped for air after regaining control, and began shivering uncontrollably; she was so cold, almost to the point where she was hypothermic.

As Robin got up off of Karigan, he could tell she wasn't in good shape, and cast a side-long glance at Raven, who looked very tired.

"Here, put her on the bed." Raven ordered, pulling back the covers on Karigan's bed. Karigan was shivering violently, her skin still extremely pale and her eyes gaunt and distant; but Raven didn't know if she was in any other pain or danger. Robin complied and picked Karigan up and laid her gently on the bed. Karigan winced as her touched her burned stomach and shoulder.

"What? What is it? Are you hurt?" he asked worriedly. Karigan shook her head.

"No. No, it's nothing." She whispered, her arms draped over her stomach. She was trying to conceal her injuries. Robin frowned.

"It's not nothing. Let me see." He persuaded, lifting Karigan's arms off her stomach. She didn't look at him, but instead stared at Raven, wondering if they should tell him about yesterday's events. Karigan bit her lip as Robin gently unwrapped her bandages. His eyes widened in shock at the severity of Karigan's burns. The skin beneath the protective wrappings was badly burnt, at least second or third degree by the looks of it. Most of her stomach was white with little leathery patches of black, and on the outside of the burn, which stretched to either side of her body, was bright red with blisters, and surprisingly, looked wet.

"What happened?" Robin breathed slowly. Karigan glanced again at Raven, searching for answers and assistance. Robin noticed their exchanged looks.

"No. No more secrets. I want the truth. What happened?" he demanded more strongly. Karigan sighed dispiritedly, torn between telling him what had happened or not.

"You want to know the truth? Fine, I'll tell you." She didn't mean to sound irritated, but could tell that's how she came off. "Yesterday when I disappeared for a couple hours I wasn't meditating like Raven said. My father had come here trying to get me on his side. I went to meet him a little ways out of town in this forest. We had words and he tried to kill me, and in doing so bringing out my demonic side. I got away with the burn on my stomach," she struggled to sit up, and winced when Robin touched her shoulder, "and one on my right shoulder. Xaphtious' fire harms me like a normal fire would you." She explained.

"Wait, your dad's that crazy that wrecked downtown?" Robin asked. Karigan only nodded. "And what was this just now?" he questioned.

"I was simply unprepared. Xaphtious attacked my mind, unleashing my inner demon, which was fighting with Raven when you arrived." Robin exhaled slowly.

"God Karigan he could've killed you, and you sit here and talk to me as if it was something that happened every day!"

"The thing is," Karigan spoke up, "it could." Robin knew what she was indirectly hinting at, but didn't say anything about the subject.

"We need to get you to a hospital or something; those burns need to be treated." Karigan shook her head stubbornly.

"They'd ask questions and the answer is something I couldn't give them. Besides, I was going to heal myself today, but…well, I'm in no fit condition to do it now." She explained, letting out a large yawn. Raven took this chance to get Robin out of there; the rest of the team was undoubtedly getting suspicious.

"You need rest; I'll bring up food and tea." Karigan nodded as her stomach grumbled loudly.

"Thanks."

At first when Raven floated towards the door, Robin wavered and didn't move for a moment, but shortly followed Raven back downstairs.

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Raven had guessed right about the rest of the team getting apprehensive. Cyborg had been pacing ever since Robin left the common room and Beast Boy was sitting on a stool thinking up atrocious explanations for their friends' strange behavior. Starfire, (being as innocent and naïve as she was) tried to deny the possibility that her fellow teammates and friends had been keeping secrets from them. Even the very thought appalled and frightened her greatly.

Cyborg was growing increasingly frustrated by his friends' lack of presence, and something in his gut told him that there was much more to Karigan and Raven than met the eye.

"Or Kari's and Raven's brains could've been infected by microscopic earwigs and they are slowly going insane." Beast Boy rambled on. Starfire turned her attention on BB, looking very distraught.

"Certainly not the unfriendly Earwigger's of Sector 4 of the Gargordian Galaxy! We Tamaranians defeated them long ago after an assassination attempt on our Grand Ruler." Cyborg stopped pacing and Beast Boy talking, both wearing an equally confused expression. The snapped out of their puzzled stupor when the door opened and Robin and Raven entered. Their leader approached them and Raven went about the kitchen making some tea and food.

"It was nothing major." Robin began nonchalantly, "Kari just had a nightmare." Cyborg, Star, and Beast Boy stared at their leader, not believing his explanation fully.

"We do not believe that is the truth, Robin. We wish to know what is going on with friend Raven and friend Karigan." Star said in a small, quiet voice. Robin met each of their eyes, and he could see they really didn't believe him. He shook his head, either he was telling them that that wasn't the truth, or he couldn't tell them. Either one and they still wanted to know what was happening.

"What is going on, man?" Cyborg demanded. "Ever since Kari told us that she had a demon dad her and Raven, and even you, have been acting weird."

"Yeah dude, what's up? We can help you guys only if you let us." Beast Boy spoke up. Robin shook his head again.

"Really, it's nothing, you guys." But even his tone didn't sound convincing and he could tell that they still didn't believe him, but would let the matter alone for the present. Their uncomfortable silence was interrupted as Raven exited the room without saying a word.

Raven sat the tray of food she had prepared down on Karigan's lap and her mug of tea on the nightstand.

"Thanks." Karigan said before diving enthusiastically into her food. She practically inhaled her food and it was all gone in about seven minutes, including most of her tea. Karigan sighed and stretched, yawning loudly.

"Ugh, now I feel like I could sleep for days." Raven nodded.

"You _should_ sleep, you need the energy." She said, the tray of dishes and Karigan's empty mug floating in the air behind her as she took her leave. Karigan yawned again and settled down comfortably and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

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When Karigan awoke from her dreamless slumber the sun was high in the sky, and her clock read 1:00 pm. She felt extremely well rested, stronger, and reenergized compared to hours before. Her wounds festered annoyingly, and she flared up and healed the burns, bruises and itchy scratches instantly. She unwrapped her bandages and was happy to see that the burn on her stomach and from what she could see on her shoulder were both gone. There was some mild to severe scarring, but that Karigan could live with; she'd just have to watch what she wore, that's all. Karigan sighed and stood up to go take a shower; the scars were just another obstacle she'd have to overcome.

Karigan let the steaming hot water pour over her battered, but healed, body. Even though she had erased all physical evidence (except the scars) form yesterday, her muscles still ached from being blasted ten feet in the air. But the shower relaxed her muscles and eased her worries.

The bathroom was filled with steam when Karigan finally emerged from the shower. She wiped off the mirror and stared at the young woman looking back. If eyes were windows to the soul, Karigan's was a very troubled and restless one. Her eyes momentarily flashed black. Karigan scowled and blinked, her eyes returning to their normal blue hue.

"Yeah, I know you're still there, and that's where you'll stay." The demon in her chuckled.

"We shall see…"

Beginning to get a little angry and annoyed Karigan stormed out of the bathroom, strengthening her hold on the demon. She had more important things to think about than that bitch constantly reminding her of what was to come.

Once Karigan had cooled down enough to be around people, she strengthened her barriers, tied down her emotions, and tried to look at least a little cheerful. Her stomach growled loudly and she decided she couldn't put off going downstairs any longer.

The kitchen wasn't in its usual tumult when Karigan stepped through the door. The strange silence deafened Karigan as she sat down beside the others for breakfast. The tension was so palpable that you could cut it with a knife. Cyborg kept shooting glances at Robin, Raven and herself as they ate in silence. Karigan couldn't identify the expression on his face, but it made her uneasy and she felt like she was under close surveillance or interrogation. Cyborg was more and more suspicious of his friends' actions the past few days, and the unusual incident this morning had only increased his curiosity. Starfire did not want to believe Cyborg's ideas, but she had silently admitted to herself that it actually made sense. She also had the feeling that Robin had lied yesterday about why Karigan had screamed, but she could not come up with another explanation. Beast Boy didn't know what to think, but the silence was becoming unbearable.

"So, uh-" he tried to speak up, but Cyborg interrupted him by quickly standing up and taking his plate full of half-eaten food to the sink. No one said anything about his abrupt leaving, but the tension in the room went beyond the breaking point. Everyone's eyes, except Karigan's, watched Cyborg tentatively. Karigan knew fairly well what was coming next, but she tried to ignore it and act as if nothing had happened; but she couldn't disregard it for long.

"Tell us the truth." Cyborg said quietly, his hands resting on the counter and his back to all of them.

"Sorry?" Robin responded, knowing fully well what he was referring to. Now Karigan set her fork down and listened, eyes downcast.

"I'm talking about the lie you this morning." Cyborg answered coolly, turning around and looking Robin directly in the eyes. Karigan could feel his gaze roving aver her back, searching for a response to his accusation. The half demon sighed. Lies, everything was lies. She was tired of lying, and tired of pretending everything was alright when it wasn't. Something had to be done, before Karigan lost the rest of her friends and only true family. One more lie, one last cover-up; that was all she would do.

"I'm telling you Cyborg, I told you the truth." Robin insisted desperately. Cyborg shook his head, not believing a word that his leader said. Karigan stood up, preparing to intervene if necessary, and brought her empty dishes to the sink. She turned around and looked up at Cyborg, her older brother, as it were, masking her emotions.

"Really, Cyborg," she started, laying her hand on his arm, "It _is_ the truth, trust me." Cyborg still looked doubtful.

"What is the truth then?" he pursued further.

"That-" Karigan faltered, she didn't know what excuse Robin had used to cover up for her scream. _That you had a nightmare, _came Raven's voice in her head. Karigan sighed inwardly.

"I just had a night mare." She recovered, hoping he didn't notice her pause too much. Cyborg seemed to relax a little, not seeing through her lie and her mask. Karigan allowed herself to smile slightly, hoping that would erase most of her friends' suspicions. Her lie must've worked, since Cyborg smiled back. Or at least, he wanted her to think that it had worked.

"So who has KP?" Karigan asked, the static tension in the air lessening dramatically. (KPKitchen Patrol. Doesn't make much sense, but that's what it's called school when you have to clean the bloody tables and such. I mean, who the hell would _want_ to patrol a kitchen?)

"Beast Boy has to." Robin spoke up, also bringing his dishes to the sink. Beast Boy groaned loudly.

"Aw, man, do I have to?" he started up complaining; but Karigan knew he wasn't going to get out of it. Obviously he knew it too, because he abruptly shut up after Cyborg and Robin gave him death glares. Karigan smirked and walked over to Raven.

"Do you have any books on in-dimension jumping?" she asked, hoping Raven wouldn't want to know why she wanted such books. Her friend merely nodded and left the room with Karigan closely behind her.

It turned out Raven had books on demons, demonic activity and such, but only two on going to different dimensions and the dimensions themselves. Karigan excitedly thanked Raven and left for her room quickly, never giving Raven a chance to ask why she wanted them. Karigan plopped down on her bed and opened the cover of the first book; it was in the same language as the book her father had given her. She was just beginning to read the first sentence when the alarms went off.

"Hey Kari, we gotta go!" came Cyborg's voice from outside her room. Karigan groaned loudly and shuffled out the door.

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Haha, so how'd you likey? Well that's nice. Any ideas to her dream and what she's thinking about? Ha, you'll find out later. Three more chapters at least. Don't expect an update any time soon, I've barely started on the next chapter. Blame that on stupid school. Well, leave a review, and bye!


	7. And the Plot Thickens

Hello everyone and welcome to the seventh chapter of What is to Come. No news and etc so onto the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything not owned by me.

I'm expecting three more chapters, so that puts this story at ten again. Unless there's going to be a last one that is really short and stuff. But I don't know yet. I've barely begun writing the 8th chapter…

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**What is to Come**

**Chapter 7even: And the Plot Thickens**

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_So the reason I was dragged away from my book was to stop some bloody psycho that probably doesn't know which way is up?_ Karigan thought fiercely as the Titans pulled up at the bank under attack. The 'bloody psycho' was none other than Cinderblock, who really did have rocks for brains, and that wasn't saying much. Raven must have heard her thoughts since she looked at Karigan out of the corner of her eye and smirked.

Cinderblock seemed to be enjoying scaring the remaining hoard of screaming civilians and causing general chaos. And usually what was fun for the bad guys wasn't for the Titans.

"Titans, go!" Robin yelled as everybody climbed out of the car. Star and Raven rose into the air as Beast Boy morphed into a gorilla. Cyborg changed his arm into a sonic cannon and Robin pulled out a coupled of exploding disks. Now Karigan smirked; Cinderblock didn't stand a chance. A stream of missiles flew at the large moving rock, distracting its attention away from the bank. Robin jumped into the air, bo-staff extended, ready to beat Cinderblock's face in; but instead got violently knocked out of the air by a stone fist. Cyborg was planted on Beast Boy's nose (since he was a T-Rex) and he ran wildly at Cinderblock. The two were quickly belted out of the way and Star, Raven and Karigan fired green, black and orange missiles at it. Cinderblock emitted a loud roar and swatted blindly at the air, managing to bat Star out of it. Karigan and Raven continued sending projectiles at it until it snatched Raven out of the air and began crushing her with its fist. Karigan was getting annoyed and then saw her friend in need of aid.

"Hey, Rocky!" she yelled, throwing a chunk of marble at its head. Cinderblock dropped Raven, who was caught by a green pterodactyl, and turned to its new target. Karigan saw the shadow of a large foot before she even had time to think.

"Oh shit!" she shouted, dive-rolling out of the way. A cloud of dust billowed up as Cinderblock's foot struck the ground. Karigan coughed and shook as the dust began to clear. No feet came crashing down on her so she stood up and dusted herself off. She didn't hear her friends' shouts, and only realized Cinderblock had decided to sneak up on her when a large shadow swept over her. Karigan turned around and glimpsed a large stone foot before everything went black.

The Titans watched in horror as Cinderblock's foot came crashing down on top of Karigan.

"No…" Robin whispered, a wave of dread washing over him. As the dust and dirt settled down, each of their eyes widened in amazement. Karigan stood, hands raised in front of her, holding up an invisible shield that stopped Cinderblock's foot from crushing her. She gave one last push and Cinderblock toppled to the ground, causing more dust to rise up from the earth. All the Titans walked or floated over towards Karigan, immensely relieved that she hadn't been killed. Before they came within even ten feet of her they were blasted off their feet or out of the air. Karigan stepped forward, grinning like a lunatic, her hand resting on her hip. Starfire sat up first and gasped when she saw her teammate.

"Friend Karigan! What is wrong with your eyes? Do you have-"

"Silence." Karigan growled, her empty black eyes staring down Starfire.

"What the?" Cyborg whispered, also noticing Karigan's changed appearance.

Suddenly a bolt of ebony power flew at Karigan knocking her off her feet. Now everyone turned and stared at Raven, who was floating in the air, eyes glowing white.

_Ok, now this is getting **very** annoying,_ Karigan thought, frustrated that she was trapped in her mind yet _again._ Before was a powerful attack on the strongholds of her mind, but now this was just plain stupid. Her demon side was treading on thin ice, and since anger made her more powerful (on occasion) the demon had gotten loose for the last time. _Time to go back into the mind bitch,_ she thought sourly, gathering all her remaining power around her.

No one approached Karigan and Raven waited, hanging on the moment to see what she would do next.

Karigan's eyes flickered open and she smirked triumphantly. But then her moment of small happiness vanished when she realized everyone had just seen her demonic side.

"At least I won't have to lie anymore." She muttered, sitting up and brushing herself off. When she turned around to face her friends, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Star all had looks of shock on their faces. Robin looked relieved, probably because she didn't die, and Raven was poised in the air, ready to attack. Karigan stared right back at her dumbfounded friends.

"Um, I can explain." She said slowly.

Cyborg stood up. "Explain? Damn-straight you will! What the hell was that?" he demanded, both frightened and curious about what he had just witnessed.

"That," Karigan started, "Was the truth."

XXXXXX

For the second time that day, the tension in the Tower threatened to burst in World War III. Karigan hadn't told everyone else the truth, and had stayed silent ever since they reached home. They all were now gathered in the common room, waiting impatiently for Karigan to explain her actions further.

Karigan sat against the counter, sipping her mug of tea when Robin approached her.

"Are you going to tell them?" he asked quietly, eyeing his other teammates nervously.

Karigan stopped drinking her tea, "I have to." She answered softly.

"Then you had better before one of them kills us; they know me and Raven are in on this." Karigan said nothing, but placed her half-empty mug on the counter and walked over to the table. Only Starfire looked up when she came silently near.

"Friend, please, what is really going on?" she said, her large green orbs pleading with her. Karigan sighed and pulled up a chair so she was facing each one of them. No one spoke for a few painful moments until Cyborg could stand in no longer.

"She asked you a question," he said quietly, looking up at Karigan, "Now what is _really_ going on?" Karigan looked down at her hands on the table and fiddled with a ring she was wearing momentarily.

"What is going on…" she mumbled, placing her hand in her lap and looking at Cyborg. "A lot is going on. Too much even. None of you were supposed to know." She answered distantly.

"Dude, you're talking in circles." Beast Boy muttered.

"What were we not supposed to know?" Starfire asked softly.

Karigan's gaze shifted and fell on her innocent alien friend. "The truth. You weren't supposed to know the truth. No one was; not even Robin."

"Karigan," Cyborg said, and her eyes shifted to his. "What is the truth?" he asked for the second time today.

"It's not what you've been told;" she answered quietly, "What you saw today…was the truth."

Cyborg was getting frustrated at her lack of response; and Beast Boy was right, she _was_ talking in circles.

"Stop," he said, frowning, "Just stop." He looked at Karigan, their eyes locking for an instant. "Tell us everything from the beginning. You started acting strange after you told us you were half-demon. That has got to have something to do with this."

Karigan sighed and sat back in her chair. Well, she couldn't evade this any longer.

"Fine," she muttered, not trying to sound agitated, but coming off as it, "From the beginning. But don't interrupt me." She said, staring at each of them in turn.

"Two days ago my father Xaphtious dropped in for an unexpected visit. He was the one destroying downtown that day." Their expressions immediately moved to shock; but no one interrupted.

"He came to give me a message. 'The Doom is coming Crossfire, check the book.' For my seventh birthday he gave me a cryptic book and that was the book he was talking about."

"He called you Crossfire." Star interrupted, but then eeped and quickly covered her mouth. Karigan nodded.

"Yes, that's the name of my powers and my Told demonic side." She could see Star about to interrupt again so she quickly continued. "The book he gave me was a book of Tellings, like prophecies, and the Doom and Crossfire had their own little special pages in it." She muttered grimly. "The Doom is simply and horribly the end of the world; and Raven and I are supposed to cause it." She let the words sink in as the horror dawned upon her friends. "That's why my dad came here; he was trying to get me on his side." She added.

Beast Boys eyes were as wide as saucers; the truth was much worse than the explanations he had been thinking up. Cyborg was shocked just as much, but still skeptical.

"That doesn't explain why you screamed earlier." He pointed out. Karigan sighed and stood up.

"Xaphtious' ways to get me on the demonic side are through horrible attacks on my minds- thus bringing out my demonic side and squashing me from existence." She halted, unsure of telling them of the more recent and violent experience with her father.

"So he attacked you today?" Beast Boy asked. Karigan nodded.

"My demonic side escaped much like earlier, only it was much worse and I was nearly killed."

Silence reigned and it was a few moments before anyone spoke.

"Can we see the book?" Cyborg asked suddenly.

"It's in a different language; you won't be able to understand it." Karigan explained. Cyborg shook his head.

"I don't care, I want to see it." Karigan sighed, stood up and went to retrieve her book.

As soon as she was clear of the room Cyborg rounded on Robin.

"When exactly where you planning on telling us all of this?" he growled. Robin shrugged.

"Whenever Kari was ready." But that wasn't a good enough explanation for Cyborg.

"C'mon man, we're a team!" he practically shouted. "You could've told us. The only reason Kari didn't was because she was scared. We could've helped bring this guy down for good!"

"No, you couldn't." came an ice-cold voice from the doorway. All attention focused on Karigan, who had returned from retrieving her book at just the right moment. Cyborg was shocked at the coolness of her voice and sat down quickly.

"Xaphtious is much too powerful; killing you would be as easy as squashing a bug." Karigan was tired of coddling and keeping them from the truth. If they wanted the truth, she would deliver it on a silver platter.

"Even with everyone there, the only people that would probably survive is Raven and myself, and only because we're part demon." She explained, her tone never changing. Karigan walked slowly towards the table and stopped a little ways from it. "And the only reason why Robin didn't tell you guys was because I asked him not to. And the reason why I didn't tell you wasn't because I was scared. That was part of it, but not the main reason."

"Damn, how much did you hear?" Cyborg asked, amazed. Karigan sat back down in her chair.

"Enough. The echo is pretty good in the halls." Now it was Star's turn to speak up.

"But what was your main reason, Karigan? For whatever it is, we can help."

Karigan shook her head. "You can't help, that's the thing. The reason I didn't tell you was because I knew you'd want to help." She continued after seeing the crestfallen looks on their faces. "I'll tell you what I told Robin. This is my burden, and weighing it down on your shoulders would destroy you. And I didn't want to worry you when there was nothing you could do about it." She explained.

"I needed you guys to stay true and always be yourself. Constantly worrying about me would've put me into more danger than anything; and coddling me wouldn't have done me any good." She added, her tone softening. Cyborg smiled, now he felt like the truth was out.

"Well then no coddling you, missy. If you want it tough, we'll make it tough." Karigan smiled back.

"Now that's more like it." She responded enthusiastically.

"But how long are you going to have to put up with your father?" Beast Boy asked in a more serious tone. Karigan stared at him, her blue eyes darkening slightly, but notenough to notice.

"Not for very long." She responded, setting the book of Faistine on the table. "You can look through this to your hearts content." She told them, getting up and heading for the door.

Robin caught her by the arm before she left.

"What do you mean 'not for long'? What are you planning?" he demanded, a worried expression settled on his face. Karigan looked him straight in the eyes.

"I know what I'm doing. Trust me." She responded vaguely, leaning forward and kissing him lightly on the cheek before turning and striding out the door. Robin watched her go, his hand lingering on the spot where her lips had connected with his skin, now more worried and suspicious than ever.

Once Karigan reached the sanctuary of her room, she settled down comfortably on her bed and resumed reading the books Raven had lent her. She skimmed through the first book, discovering almost immediately that it wouldn't help her at all. The second book was incredibly thicker, and filled with dust from over the ages. The first chapter nearly put her to sleep so she skipped the rest. _Third times a charm…_she thought, picking up the third book she had.

The first chapter was mostly about what the book contained, so Karigan barely skimmed over it and moved on to the second chapter. This was the one that captured her attention; it was mostly about the dimensions themselves. (here comes a lovely description…enjoy)

_Of all the dimensions, there are four main ones that hold the many different powers that exist. The first dimension, possibly the largest of the four, holds Earth and all the other planets of the galaxy. (Excluding those that require traveling through a black hole to reach.) In this dimension, it is fairly easy for creatures from other dimensions to enter, and is usually a battlefront for large crusades of good versus evil._

_In the second dimension, evil reigns in the Underworld. Three sinister and powerful creatures control three different things or parts. Grim, the Reaper of Souls, controls the first part and collects corrupt souls that are doomed to spend eternity in the Underworld. Bob, the Overseer of most demonic activities, controls many of the demons and strives to keep a form of peace between Grim and Trigon. The third and final part is ruled by Trigon the Terrible. He has tried and failed a countless amount of times to take over Earth. His demonic minions not governed by Bob, carry out his wishes, causing chaos and pain in more than one dimension and on more than one planet._

_The third dimension, known as the Afterlife, is where three more Supreme Rulers dwell. Jack works endlessly on ancient spells and lost crafts to help put an end to the evil of the world. Celere keeps the long-lasting peace in the Afterlife, and looks after all the peaceful souls resting there. Dakkaadyyyshum, the final Supreme Ruler in the Afterlife, helps those who seek his assistance in fighting against the evil in other dimensions._

_The final dimension, Mishocair, or the Unsettled, is where the seventh and only female Supreme Ruler resides. Sividia watches over and takes care of the lost souls that gather in her domain. If any soul is rejected from the Afterlife but is strong enough to resist going to the Underworld, they accumulate under Sividia's protection and guidance; often redeeming themselves and traveling to the Afterlife. Also, if a soul is suspended in equal balance between life and death, they will travel to Mishocair._

Karigan basically knew the overview of each dimension and since the rest of the chapter elaborated on the Supreme Rulers, she skipped to the next chapter that dealt with actually traveling to the dimensions. Finally happy at having reached what she was looking for, Karigan dove into her reading.

_Traveling to the different dimensions is a very complex and dangerous ordeal if not done properly. For demons, it is fairly easy; as they are taught the spell at a young age a regularly practice it. But for Mortals and leath-taiseals, or half-demons, the spell is much more difficult and easier to complicate._

_Though it is rare for anyone but demons to want to travel to other dimensions, it has been done on several different occasions. Aside from the possibility of loosing your life in the transaction, there are other less or more severe consequences, since the mind is the only thing transferred._

_In the world of dimensions there exist thousands of different dimensions, less than a sixth of which are devoid of any sign of life. If the spell should go awry, you could be sent to one of those dimensions where return is nearly impossible. Another possible affect of a botched spell is ending up in the Underworld and being sold into brutal slavery for the rest of eternity. Though highly terrible and cruel, there is nothing that can be done to stop it. _Karigan shuddered; that did _not_ sound like fun._ Though possibly the worst that can happen is thebody **along **with the mind is sent away; and since the conditions in most other dimensions cannot be sustained by a Mortal body. The incantation, though simplistic, is powerful and hard to control. It is best to memorize the spell completely and effectively to diminish the chance of fault._

Karigan yawned; this stuff was interesting, but she needed the spell. She skimmed the rest of the page and the next, finally finding the incantation. Karigan quickly copied it down and strode to Raven's room.

XXXXXX

Raven couldn't believe it, _wouldn't _believe it. Karigan had finally lost it. She had come to her with a powerful spell and the start of a plan to stop her father. Sure, it made sense, in a strange psychotic way, but Raven wouldn't believe that she was actually serious.

"Raven, listen to me," Karigan pleaded, "I had a dream the other night. I think I confronted my dad and something…weird happened." Raven barely listened, not believing that it could be _that_ weird. "He sent a fireball at me, and I did too. But when they collided, it was like an explosion; white light everywhere."

"Maybe that's just what happens when your powers clash." Raven interrupted, but Karigan shook her head.

"That's never happened before. Anyway, then it switched to this circle of stone pillars. Some raving red demon with white hair was going berserk and taking it out on the rocks."

"Wait," Raven interrupted again, "how many eyes did he have?" Karigan looked confused.

"Uh, four, why?"

"Damn." Raven breathed slowly.

"What?" Karigan practically screamed.

"That was my dad." Raven responded. Karigan smiled.

"Well all the better!" she exclaimed. Raven stared at her like she was insane. "In my dream he said 'this changes everything' and 'fool'. Now the only person he could prize enough to call a fool would be my dad; but I haven't quite figured out how him dying would change everything yet. But if I kill Xaphtious, that'd change things for the worse for Trigon."

Raven shook her head in utter disbelief. Karigan was insane and she was embracing it openly.

"Karigan, you could die too." Raven said softly. Her friend stared her in the eyes.

"That is a chance I am willing to take." She responded calmly. Raven still could not believe she was having this conversation with Karigan.

"If I die too, that could affect the Doom dramatically. The Writer's of the Tellings didn't think one of us would die. It could postpone what is to come for years."

"Don't be so eager to throw away life." Raven spat bitterly. Karigan's eyes saddened.

"I'm not, believe me. I don't want to die, but destroying the world is the last thing on my 'to do' list. And I now know the answer to his question. I can't. I can't go on for years to come, feeling nothing, constantly on guard. If I want to stay sane, I need to fell, so this needs to end soon." Raven shook her head, but before she could speak, Karigan interrupted her. "Please Raven, just do this for me. A favor; possibly my last."

Raven was torn; loose her friend, possibly for nothing or for the better, or keep her friend, but have a far greater chance of destroying the world. Of course, she could tell Karigan was going to follow through with her plan anyway, regardless of her answer. So the least she could do was make sure she got to the Underworld safely.

Raven sighed, "Fine, yes, I will help you." Karigan smiled and embraced Raven tightly.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"I take it you aren't going to tell the others?" Raven said. Karigan shook her head.

"No, they would just try to stop me, especially Robin."

"So when do you want to go?" she asked.

"Want to go? Never. But tomorrow night is when I was planning. Late tomorrow night, or when everyone should be sleeping." Raven nodded.

So a day to do everything she wanted to do before she possibly died. Karigan sighed and exited Raven's room; from here out she was going to let loose a little. Not enough to be a sitting duck for Xaphtious, but just enough to enjoy her remaining time with the Titans.

XXXXXX

So there you go. I'm expecting 3 more chapters now, since I started typing this like a week ago...and I'm thinking thatone will be shorter than usual. Just to break things up a bit. Well, hope you enjoyed that and please review! I'm out. –poof-

Oh yes, and I don't own Dakkaadyyyshum, that dude belongs to Raven's Wolf.


	8. My Last

Yello all and welcome to the next chapter of 'What is to Come.' I'm going to try not to ramble on up here so…yeah.

Lain: sorry for the insane wait for an update…I only have three excuses (and a rather lame ones) is that the internet is very distracting, I thought up another story that has been stuck in my head since Sunday but this one will go one fiction press, and that my muse has gone on strike and demands that I pay her for her services. What a load of bull. but anyhoo...just so you know, I would never ever scrap this story, I have too many plans for it. -cackles evilly- but yeah, this chapter and the next aren't going to be very long. I think ten will be the longest...

Disclaimer: I own nothing not previously owned by me. Basically the Teen Titans in this case, but lots of things in other cases. hmpf...

XXXXXX

What is to Come

Chapter Eight: My Last

XXXXXX

The next day Karigan barricaded herself in her bedroom for most of the morning. The other Titans could only guess why, and only Karigan knew the real reason.

Karigan sat hunched over the desk in her room; she would much rather be spending time with her friends but she owed them at least this much. So she wrote, each of her words flowing from her heart and out of her pen. Occasionally the going would get rough and she took a break and paced about her room; overwhelmed by all her unchecked emotions. Most of all, right now, she needed to keep her shields up; but was finding that difficult to do. Xaphtious attacked, but she was ready. A few gruesome images slipped past her barricade, and she closed her eyes and bit her lip at the horror. But it was all over in a few minutes and no harm came to anyone..

Even if the other Titans just wanted to leave Karigan be, Robin couldn't do that. He knew she was up to something, and had a pretty good guess that it was some plot to stop her father; some crazy plot that could kill her if she didn't keep her head. So despite his friends' protests, the Boy Wonder climber the stairs to Karigan's room and knocked on the door. He didn't get a response right away, so he knocked louder.

"Karigan?" Sounds of muffled movement could be heard from inside.

"Yeah?" she responded, not opening the door.

"Um, can we talk?" he asked, shifting his weight uncomfortably. Karigan didn't respond at first but then he heard her sigh.

"Can we talk later? I'm kind of...busy." she answered. "How about later tonight?" she suggested. Robin sighed silently; a compromise. At least she'd _be_ here tonight.

"Sure," he said, "but where?" Karigan smiled to herself.

"I'll find you." she answered. Robin walked away feeling a little more relieved. If she had some plan to take her father out of the equation, he thought she would've done it as soon as possible. but not it looked like she might not, at least, from the optimistic point of view.

As soon as Robin entered the common room, everyone in there immediately wanted to know what she said.

"She's fine." Robin answered, sitting down and starting up a game against Cyborg.

XXXXXX

But Karigan was not fine. She could tell Robin was suspicious of her actions and her untimely choice of words when talking to Cyborg, Star and BB. All her life had become was lies; but her friends feelings came after their safety, and they would just have to live with it.

Karigan sighed and rested her head on her hand. She wished she could just go back to when everything was normal. _Three days…_she thought, _three measly days._ It was amazing really, how fast times could change from being perfect to a living hell.

Two tears fell onto the piece of paper she was writing on. The black ink blurred as the salty liquid seeped into the paper. Sniffing, Karigan wiped away any more that threatened to fall. She felt so…helpless, like there was no hope for her, her friends, the world. She was only one person, what could she do? Her destiny was written, the world would end by her and Raven's hands._Your destiny is of your own making, not what other people want it to be, her mother had said to her once._ Karigan had to smile; just thinking about Andrea made her feel better. And that was why she kept going. Not because it was her destiny but because she wanted to screw over the people that had foretold her future when the couldn't control a damn thing she did.

It was all one big chess game; the pieces were used and placed in exact locations to go in for the kill. The evil queen was very close to winning, but Karigan's pawn was already there.

"Check mate." she whispered, folding up the piece of paper, sealing it in an envelope and exiting her room.

Karigan slowly descended the stairs to the common room, put on a smile and entered through the thick steel doors. If this might be her last day with her family, she sure as hell was going to enjoy herself.

XXXXXX

The rest of the day went by faster than Karigan wanted or expected. Later on after the sun had set Cyborg and Beast Boy had taken Star to see 'Vengeance of the Undead' at the theatre. Karigan had to smile at this; Starfire would most likely sit through the entire horror flick peeking through cracked fingers. So that left Robin, Raven and herself in the Tower until at least 11:00. Raven, she figured, was in her room or on the roof, and she knew the dark girl wouldn't interrupt. But before Karigan went to meet Robin, she took a warm, relaxing shower that did wonders for her tense muscles. This meeting would be minimum security; she wanted to be able to feel a little, but her mine still be protected at the same time. Even though Xaphtious had already attacked her mind today, she didn't want to be caught with her guard down.

Robin, in fact, was hard to locate. He wasn't in his room, the training room or in the common room. Frustrated, Karigan stared out the huge window, contemplating calling his communicator when she saw a stoplight sitting on the rocks below.

"There you are." she whispered, turning around and heading for outside. The night air was cool and breezy, she almost wished she had brought a jacket. Karigan approached Robin silently, just watching him. He looked peaceful from there, content with the world and relaxed. She walked up behind him and laid her hand on his shoulder.

"You wanted to talk?" she asked calmly. The Boy Wonder jumped a bit and relaxed when he heard it was only her.

"Karigan," he breathed, "You scared me." Karigan smiled. "Walk with me?" he asked, standing up and beginning to walk away. Karigan followed and the two strolled in companionable silence for a few moments. Robin finally broke the silence.

"I need to know what you're planning." he said, turning his head and staring at her. Karigan sighed.

"There's noth-"

"I don't care if you think there is nothing we can do." Robin interrupted. "How could you know until we tried?" Karigan's eyes flashed annoyance and something else Robin couldn't discern.

"I _know_," she answered calmly, "From experience. You saw my burns. You what my dad's powers did to me. And I'm only half-human. Imagine what he could do to you guys; the damage would be much worse, possibly fatal, and that is something that I can't risk." she finished. Robin stopped, turned to face her and placed both his hands on her shoulders.

"What if we're willing to take the risk?" he asked softly, staring into her deep blue orbs. Karigan sighed.

"I can't let you…"

"Let us?" Robin asked, his tone stronger. "This would be our choice entirely. We can handle it."

Karigan shook her head roughly. "No, I'm not-"

"Not what?"

"I-I couldn't-"

"What?" Robin pushed more.

"You couldn't-"

"What? We can't handle something like this?"

"No…" she mumbled, averting his gaze.

"Then _what?_" he outright demanded. Karigan's head shot up, her eyes filled with anger and pain.

"I couldn't take loosing you guys over something I could've prevented!" she shouted, her voice echoing slightly. "Don't you see? You have a bigger chance of getting killed and if that happened, I don't know what I would do! You guys are the only family I have left and I _am not _loosing you because some stupid mistake!" Robin's face softened. Karigan sighed and dropped down on a large boulder, not looking at him. He sat down next to her and turned her head with his fingers.

"Hey. If something did happen to us it wouldn't be your fault. We choose to help you no matter what the consequences." Karigan smiled and flung her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Thanks." she whispered in his ear. When she pulled away and leaned against the boulder behind her something clicked in Robin's mind.

"My being with you isn't affecting your barriers or something is it?" he asked, worry written all over his face. Karigan turned her head and looked at him.

"No, no, it's ok." she answered, shaking her head and smiling, "Trust me." Robin nodded, but didn't totally believe her. She was still up to something, and then there was those words again. 'Trust me' That's what she had said when he asked her what she as up to, and now again. But maybe he was just paranoid; worrying did that to you.

"But can we just stay off that subject?" Karigan asked, looking at the cloudless sky. "I need a break from everything." Robin said nothing but looked up at the star-dotted sky also. The two sat for awhile in thoughtful silence, mulling over things or just enjoying the peaceful night. After some time Karigan shivered and rubbed her arms.

"Ugh, it's cold out here." she commented, looking over at Robin. "Can we go inside?" Robin nodded and they stood up and walked inside. Since Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire weren't back yet, the two settled down on the couch. Karigan laid between Robin's legs and leaned back against his chest; he wrapped his arms around her torso, their fingers unconsciously interlacing. She sighed happily, feeling extremely safe and warm, and closed her eyes; beginning to drift into unconsciousness.

XXXXXX

There was an annoying beeping and Karigan desperately wanted to kill it. She groggily opened her eyes and groaned quietly. The stupid alarm on her watch was going off. Karigan sat up with a start and looked at her watch; could it already be time? Groaning, she put her head in her hand; her and Robin must've fallen asleep on the couch. Then the person behind her shifted and sighed.

"Must've fallen asleep, eh?" Robin asked sleepily. Karigan stared back at him, barely able to see his features in the dark.

"Yeah," she replied hoarsely "I'm gonna go up to my room." she said, leaning over and kissing him deeply, "Goodbye." she whispered before walking up to her room.

When Karigan reached her bedroom her alarm clock on her nightstand was also going off. She unplugged it and looked around her room; this could quite possibly be the last time she ever saw it. But this was no time to be sentimental; she needed to get five things and then head to Raven's room. Karigan walked over t her desk and pulled five white envelopes out of the top drawer. Tucking them safely in her back pocket, she pulled her long black hair into a tight bun and exited her room.

Karigan knocked softly on Raven's door and entered when she opened it.

"Sorry I'm a bit late." Karigan whispered as Raven shut the door and turned around.

"Your emotions are running rabid; keep them in check." Raven commented in an expressionless voice. Karigan bit her lip; she hadn't explained all of her plan to Raven yet. She could tell her friend was worried about her lack of restraint with her emotions, and if Raven knew the whole of her plan, would not want to cooperate. That would be something Karigan couldn't handle; it was hard enough not telling the rest of her friends.

"Hey," she said, staring Raven directly in the eyes, "I know it may not seem like it, but I _do_ know what I'm doing. So please, just trust me." she said, hoping Raven believed her. Raven's amaranthine eyes met Karigan's navy ones and she said nothing. She finally looked away and floated over to her bed.

"Are you ready?" Raven asked, not meeting her friends' gaze. Karigan walked over and looked at Raven, her face set.

"What do I have to do?" she asked calmly. Raven turned around and faced Karigan, her face expressionless as well.

"You have to recite the incantation you gave me yesterday and then think of the dimension you wish to enter." she answered. Karigan nodded.

"Do you still have the copy I gave you?"

"Yes," Raven said, walking over to her dresser and pulling out the scrap of paper. "But you can't read it." Karigan gave her a confused look. "You have to have your eyes closed for the transaction, so I'll say it in your head and then you repeat it out loud." Now Karigan understood. "It'd be better if you laid down because after your mind leaves the body goes into a sort of coma." Raven finished. Karigan nodded again and a tense silence fell between them. No one said or did anything; they both knew this could be the last time they ever saw each other.

"Um, Raven?" Karigan spoke up, finally breaking the quietude. "I need you to do one last thing for me." Raven raised and eyebrow, wondering what else she could possibly do. Karigan reached behind her and withdrew the five white envelopes from her back pocket.

"If I die," Raven's eyes grew wide and she opened her mouth to protest, "_If_ I die," she said strongly, "I want you to distribute these accordingly." Raven took the envelopes slowly. "And if I make it, I'll take them back." she added. Raven nodded, swallowing hard. But Karigan then realized that stalling wasn't going to help anything, and if that she was going to go through with her plan, she would have to go now. Slowly, Karigan turned to her best friend.

"I should probably be going." she stuttered out, trying to keep her composure. And they both hugged one another at the same time.

"Thanks for everything." Karigan whispered, pulling away. She then laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.

"Go." she whispered, trying to calm her nerves. Raven closed her eyes; the paper was useless to her, she had known the incantation since childhood. Once connected with Karigan's mind she began to recite the spell.

_Sa na éirims, aond ar ceathair._ "Sa na éirims, aond ar ceathair,"

_Mé mian go iontráil faic breis,_ "Mé mian go iontráil faic breis,"

_Cabhoil déarfaidh mollign, intinn déarfaidh imir, _"Cabhoil déarfaidh mollign, intinn déarfaidh imir,"

_Sa na áit mo machnamh braith._ "Sa na áit mo machnamh braith." _The Underworld._

Karigan inhaled sharply and her body rose a few inches off of the bed.

Through her minds eye, Karigan was traveling at an alarming speed down a black and endless void. When she finally stopped, Karigan found herself in a cavernous room lit dimly with black flaming flambeau on the walls. There was nothing and no one in sight, and not even an exit or entrance could be seen. _Good, _she thought, _no interruptions._

"Tar agus leat mé, Xaphtious." Karigan shouted, her voice echoing off the rock walls. She knew she wouldn't have to wait long; Xaphtious probably already felt her enter the Underworld, and it was only a matter of minutes before he came. Sure enough, a few moments later Xaphtious materialized in front of her. He stared down at her, his lifeless eyes boring into her soul.

"You called?"

XXXXXX

Yes! I have a cliffy! Haha. Well, there you have it. I actually typed this all in one setting…gosh my butt hurts…haha, not like you wanted to know that. But anydidlyhoo, I'm almost finished with the ninth chapter, and it's short, and the tenth one is going to be so awesome to write. So, sit back, review, and then you'll have to wait. But I'm gone! -poof-

Oh, yesh, the funky looking words were Gaelic again.

This was the incantation:  
_In the dimension, one of four,  
I wish to enter and nothing more,  
Body will linger, mind will play,  
In the place my thoughts betray._

Fairly lame, and I made it up on a whim, but it'll do. And when Karigan called her father, she said something along the lines of 'Come and get me, Xaphtious.' I believe that's right...


	9. Pulse

Elloo all and welcome to the next to last chapter of 'What is to Come'. Good news, I've written a bit on the last chapter, and it's a doozy. Bad news, I've only written a bit on the last chapter. I'm trying to hurry it up but my stupid History teacher had to go and give us bloody homework over the summer…but I'll complain elsewhere…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything not previously owned by me.

Note: Robin's dream in the beginning is just something I randomly made up on the way to get Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I was a little tired and possibly delusional. And the information about his past has been taken from the movie 'Batman: Forever' which I saw not long before I wrote that…so that might explain some of the ramblings.

O…k. On with the story.

XXXXXX

**What is to Come**

**Chapter Nine: Pulse**

XXXXXX

Robin had watched Karigan leave and soon followed suit; intent on getting back to sleep as soon as possible. When he reached his room, Robin changed into grey flannel pajama pants and fell into his bed, falling asleep instantaneously.

_He was having that dream again; the one where her saw his parent's death, and the one he hadn't had in years. He was back in the circus tent, standing in the ring below, watching his mother and father fall to their deaths. Only this time they were different. Their eyes were empty sockets, emotionless pits in their once familiar faces. As his family fell closer and closer still they changed into grisly beasts, the skin rotting off their bones. Robin screamed, but nothing came out, and ducked, and when he dared to look back up the scenery had changed. He was standing in the Gotham City cemetery, right in front of his parents' gravestones. Then time sped up, the sun set, and darkness reigned. The cemetery fell quickly into disrepair, soon turning into a jungle, and then being engulfed by horrendous black flames. Robin heard a crack, looked up, and glimpsed a burning limb falling towards him before everything went black. Darkness surrounded him, engulfing his being and dousing his senses. But then he heard a voice, only a whisper at first, and it quickly grew stronger. 'Goodbye…' he heard, and instantly recognized it._

Robin let out a small yell and sat up quickly, his breathing ragged. He jumped from his bed and hastily pulled on a shirt.

"Karigan, what are you doing…" he muttered, his brow creased in worry. Robin quickly exited his room and sprinted down the hall to Karigan's. When he knocked on the door, no sleepy Karigan came to open it, and he quickly realized that she was not in there. Robin pushed the button on the wall and the door slid open with a soft whoosh. But what worried him the most wasn't what was absent from the room, but what was present, and laying on Karigan's bed. Robin stepped forward and picked up one of the dusty volumes and turned it about in his hands. 'Dimension Traveling' was the simple title, and the page that it had been open to told how to journey to the other dimensions. Realization dawned and his heart fell to his toes.

"Oh god no…" he whispered hoarsely, his rapidly beating heart the only thing he could hear. Dropping the book he sprinted to Raven's room and pounded loudly on the door. He got no response to the first group of knocks, and was about ready to kick the door when Raven opened it, glowering at him.

"What?" she demanded. Robin frowned; like she didn't know what he was there for.

"What is Karigan planning? Where is she?" he asked hastily, trying to see into her room over her shoulder.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She responded, trying to feign innocence.

"Like hell you don't." he snarled, pushing open her door with a grunt. Raven tried to stop him, but she knew he had already glimpsed Karigan. She was deathly pale, almost ghost-like, with her black hair billowing about her head like a dark crown. Robin walked over to her and grasped her limp hand tightly, incredibly surprised to find it fairly warm.

"I saw the books in her room." He said quietly, staring at Karigan's floating body. "What is she doing?" he asked, not looking at Raven.

"She went to the Underworld to stop her father."

Robin smirked to himself. 'Stop her father' indeed. Euphemisms never suited Robin that much; he had no need for them, just like there was no need for them now, so in his mind, it was 'kill her father'. Signing, Robin released Karigan's hand and stood up.

"How long has she been gone?" he asked, turning around and facing Raven.

"About two hours." She answered, the lack of sleep evident on her face. "But time passes differently there. Two hours here could be twenty minutes there."

Robin shook his head. "Why didn't she tell me what she was going to do?" Raven bit back her acidic retort and instead threw him a look that screamed 'why do you think?'

"She knew you would try to stop her." She said evenly.

"Well yeah I would've tried to stop her!" Robin blew up, throwing his hands in the air. "And I'm damn-well surprised you didn't."

Raven shook her head slowly. "She would've gone regardless of anything I or you said. But she knew you would have gone to greater lengths to stop her. And I thought the least I could do was get her there safely."

Robin, of course, knew or had figured this already; considering Karigan's stubbornness and independence was extremely profound.

"But she could get killed, Raven." He said quietly, staring at her. Raven tore away from his gaze and looked at Karigan.

"I know," she whispered, "And Karigan knows it too. It was a chance she was willing to take."

A solemn silence fell between them and Robin drug the chair from Raven's desk and sat next to the bed. Sighing quietly, Robin put his chin in his hand and stared forlornly at Karigan.

"Did only her mind go or what?" he asked, peering at Raven out of the corner of his eye. She nodded slowly and sat in her meditation stance with her eyes closed.

"How is she going to get back?" Raven opened her eyes and stared at Robin, whose focus was back on Karigan.

"My mind is linked to hers; when she tells me she is ready to come back, I'll tell her the incantation to bring her back."

"What if she doesn't come back?" Robin asked quietly, not looking at her. Raven said nothing, not wanting to think about hat possibility.

X

With a grunt, Karigan collided with the hard rock behind her. She and her father had gotten off to a good start; each being able to parry the others attacks without much effort. Then things started to go downhill for Karigan; she seemed to grow weaker with each passing attack. But the worst part was was that Xaphtious could tell her energy was diminishing, and yet he never made his attacks more powerful. He was toying with her, and it was making Karigan positively livid. So far, her theory on her powers was partially correct, but she had yet to fully prove it.

Groaning quietly, Karigan stood up and glared daggers at her father. Xaphtious merely gave her his infuriating smirk and a large ominous fireball formed in his hand. Karigan stood to her full height of 5'3 and rubbed her shoulder, ignoring the throbbing pain in it. Her suffering was his enjoyment no more; it was time this ended and it was time she unleashed her full anger. Karigan's eye changed from navy to red and a fireball erupted in her hand. Stepping away from the wall quickly, she fired her missiles and launched a few chunks of rock at Xaphtious. He blocked the flame but the basketball-sized rock hit him hard in the stomach, sending him flying into the stone wall behind him. This gave Karigan the perfect window of opportunity. Exhaling slowly, she shook her hands and cleared her mind. _Ok, **focus,**_ she thought, holding her hands a little ways apart with her palms facing in. Karigan concentrated with all her might on every time she had wished for her dad to come home, but he didn't. All the moments of disappointment and sadness she had to endure because her father never bothered to get to know his daughter. Karigan could feel the power growing inside her and forming a strong fireball in between her hands.

She reveled in this feeling; this over whelming strength that she had only felt at the most intense of times. But while her attention was drawn elsewhere and away from her father, Xaphtious had risen and took his own chance. Karigan realized her fault too late; a ball of evil black fire was rocketing towards her, but much to Karigan's surprise, it collided with the ground, sending torrents of dust and shards of rock into the air. Her deep concentration broke as the impact blasted her off her feet and into the jagged wall behind her. A sharp jutting point on the wall drove into her back with a biting pain and Karigan cried out. She sat hunched and doubled over, biting her lip until the metallic taste of blood reached her tongue. Breathing hard, she reached out with her right arm and tried to stand, but a searing white-hot pain shot up and down it, making her cry-out again and halt the movement. Karigan turned her head; protruding from her shoulder was a thin, but very sharp piece of rock that had been blasted out of the ground.

Restraining the urge to scream again, Karigan grasped the shard firmly and pulled. Warm blood trickled between her fingers and dripped onto the ground, staining it a deep vermillion. Karigan threw the stone to the side and wiped her bloody hands on her jeans. She couldn't heal the wound, it would take too much energy; energy that she would need.

By this time, all of the dust and rock particles had settled and Xaphtious stood a few feet away, scowling down at his daughter.

"You're weak," he spat venomously, "Pathetic. I'm ashamed to call you my daughter." Karigan slowly lifted her head, her eyes blazing such a deep blue they were almost black.

"I am not your daughter. I'm your downfall." She snarled, rising slowly.

This time, she focused harder and faster with all her might; the memories of the strongest time each of her emotions had encountered flashing through her head. Her mother's death, becoming a Titan, first learning about what was to come, Jake and her father coming back into her life, growing to love her friends as her only family and the brutal anger that someone else was trying to take that family away. In this whirlwind of emotions Karigan stood, concentrating with all her mind's power on one last fireball. Each of her emotions drained from her soul, pouring their essence into this ball of flame until there was nothing left. Karigan looked down at the flame in her hands; it pulsed with its own life, an almost never-ending source of power feeding its being. But she noticed something different about this solitary fireball; though all of it may have pulsed as one; the deep maroon center possessed a beat of its own. It was Karigan's beat, her pulse; this missile was connected to her heart and soul just like her emotions had been.

Karigan raised her hands to throw the fireball and Xaphtious did the same. Her empty blue eyes stared at him, and their eyes connected once before each fired their projectile. As Karigan's left her hand, and the connected dissipated, she felt strangely empty inside.

"Goodbye…" she whispered, knowing Raven was connected to her mind.

As the powers collided, a blinding white light spread throughout the room at an alarming speed; but just as soon as everything erupted in light, everything went black.

X

In the Circle of stone pillars, where Trigon the Terrible sat upon his obsidian throne, things were not going well. Trigon was aware that his puppet Xaphtious had gone to meet his wretched daughter without his consultation. He seemed to believe that he could free the girl's demonic side with little trouble. But he had been wrong. The blast from the two powers' confrontation was felt throughout the Underworld, and Trigon didn't doubt that denizens of other dimensions felt the power surge also.

Trigon slammed his fist down on the arm rest of his chair, breaking off a small portion.

"This changes everything." He snarled, the anger in his voice threatening to cut loose. Indeed, this recent turn of events did change everything, and for the better or worse, the demon could not know. But change was something Trigon did not like unless it was brought about by himself, and only in the form of destruction and terror. He stood up, his anger taking full control and seeking a way out.

"Fool!" he roared, red lasers shooting from his eyes and completely destroying everything in their path. But no matter what Trigon did, said or destroyed could have changed or stopped what had just occurred.

X

Raven's eyes shot open as cold, harsh fear seized her heart. She frantically searched her mind for the connection to Karigan's, but it was as she dreaded; there was no connection to be found. Robin had been staring at her, his fear growing at each of her actions.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he demanded, his brow etched with worry. Raven's gaze fell on Robin, her indigo eyes plagued by fear and sorrow.

"I-I can't find a connection to her mind." She croaked, cringing when one of her vases blew up. Raven slowly floated to the floor and collapsed on her bed. Robin knew what that meant, but wanted to believe there was a possibility that is wasn't true. He stared back at Karigan's limp body, and for the first time in a long time, he felt helpless. Karigan was in a world where he couldn't help her, where he couldn't follow. Robin slowly grasped her hand again and was startled to find that it lacked its previous warmth. Biting his lip unconsciously, Robin removed his glove and held her hand again; it was stone cold. He looked over at Raven who touched Karigan's other hand and pulled back sharply, her heart beating fast. Their eyes connected again and moved back to Karigan. No sooner had they done that, her body ceased glowing and slowly began descending back onto the bed. Now the truth was undeniable.

"She's gone?" Robin whispered hoarsely, afraid of those simple words. Raven walked over to her window and pressed her forehead against the cool glass. She didn't look at him, for fear her emotions would stray from her control.

"She's gone."

XXXXXX

Well now, it is time for you to jump to conclusions. I could have really killed Karigan off this time, or Raven just thinks she's dead and Karigan will come back. You might be surprised by what happens next. And I might be lying. You never know. So there you go.

The last chapter might be awhile, and only because I'm lazy and my muse Agatha demands to be paid for her services. Pfft. As if. But this chapter was longer than I thought it would be…so maybe the next one will be shorter than I thought…you never know…

Oo, more good news and bad news. I came up with a new story that is Raven/Robin pairing and I made it up at 1 in the morning. Doesn't it just sound peachy? Hah, you'll have to wait some time before I actually put it up. And I just finished the first chapter yesterday…

Bad news time: It's going to distract me from my other stories. Gr. Stupid mind…Sorry for rambling on and on…you can review now


	10. Remember Me

Hello everyone and welcome to the final, last, concluding, closing, ending, and any other synonym of those words chapter. I'm so incredibly sorry this took so entirely long to complete. My muse, Agatha, is demanding to be paid for her services, (which I duly refuse) so she's on a sort of strike. But I pulled a spork on her and everything's better-ish now. But anyhoo, you really don't care about that, so onto whatever's next.

Disclaimer: I own nothing not previously owned by me. That means the song near the end that I'm not even sure we can have anymore.

If you don't remember or are unfamiliar with the way people talk in this certain place coming up, italics are Karigan, and bold/italicized is Siv.

XXXXXX

**What is to Come **

**Chapter Ten: Remember Me **

XXXXXX

Karigan's eyes flickered open and she found herself surrounded by dull and hazy grey, with thousands of whispering voices in her head. The teen looked around, recognizing her surroundings as confused aroused in her. As Karigan turned around, she saw a grey cloaked figure melt from the haze. This being she was familiar with, and called out to.

_Sividia? _

The person removed their hood and gazed at Karigan through quicksilver orbs. It indeed was Sividia, the only female Supreme Ruler and guarder of Mishocair. She had changed little since Karigan had last seen her, but now she looked haggard, forlorn almost.

_I'm in a coma again? Karigan asked, very confused at how she ended up her again. _

Karigan asked, very confused at how she ended up her

But Sividia shook her head and frowned. **_No, you are not in a coma, _**she answered in her multi-tonal voice. Karigan gave her a puzzled look; the only way to get to Mishocair was if you were lingering in between life and death.

Sividia sighed, **_You died, Karigan. _**Karigan looked mildly shocked, but still confused.

_Then why am I here? She asked. _

Sividia sighed again. **_It seems there is a little…disagreement on where you should go._**

Karigan stared at her, dumbstruck. But before she could respond, Sividia motioned for her to follow.

**_The Supreme Rulers of the Afterlife and the Underworld are arguing on where you should end up. So for your safety, you were transported here until further notice. _**

Karigan was about ready to question further, but Sividia continued.

**_Trigon and Celere declared and emergency Council; the first one in about a century, and all for you, actually. I am not quite sure if that is a good thing though. She _**

finished, her brow furrowed in thought. **_Just so know, this is not going to be pleasant. _**She added.

Karigan snorted. _I hardly expect it to be. Trigon's there. _Sividia smiled to herself.

**_Trigon seems to think that since you killed Xaphtious, you are somehow bound to him because Xaphtious was your father. So you would be sent to the Underworld and either punished or tortured into his control. _**

Karigan shuddered; going there was not on the top on her list. But another thought occurred to her. _You knew Xaphtious was my father? _Sividia nodded. _But then why didn't you tell me when I was here before? _

**_You had more important things to worry about, and your mind was elsewhere, and could not even begin to comprehend that kind of burden. Karigan said nothing in return, but was grateful for the chance to recover from the ordeal with Slade before this was dropped on her. _**

**_As for Celere, he undoubtedly thinks that since you are a leath taiseal, you would taint the Afterlife with your heritage. Karigan sighed; things were just looking wonderful for her. But fortunate for you, it is not up to just those two to decide where your soul should rest. That did little to reassure Karigan, but she wasn't about to give up hope. _**

Karigan sighed; things were just looking for her. That did little to reassure Karigan, but she wasn't about to give up hope.

As the two walked further into Mishocair, they approached a door; or, at least, what appeared to be a door. In fact, the 'door' was a swirling mass of silver liquid that seemed to have a life, light and will of its own. Karigan mistook this churning portal for a door mainly because it had the same appearance as one; except, of course, that it was silver and constantly moving. Sividia stopped in front of the gateway and turned to Karigan.

**_The Council is just beyond this, she said, waving her hand at the strange passageway. One thing you would do well to remember; anything thoughts you may conjure up beyond this portal will be heard by everyone. So do not say anything you may regret later. Karigan nodded, tucking this bit of information into the back of her mind for further use. _**

she said, waving her hand at the strange passageway. Karigan nodded, tucking this bit of information into the back of her mind for further use.

Sividia then stepped into the swirling liquid, and Karigan followed suit, not knowing what to expect.

XXXXXX

Robin knew he couldn't have stopped her. For once he understood that this would have happened regardless of what anyone tried to do. Robin believed there was always a choice to make and that only you could make it, and now he realized that Karigan had made that choice the day she revealed what was to come to all of them. She had lied, but Robin knew he couldn't hold that against her. She had made the choice and understood it, and now Robin understood it as well. Karigan chose them and the rest of the world over herself. She had found a small glimmer of hope that could save the world and she clung to it, formulating a plan from a minute glitch in the system. But just because he understood it, didn't mean he liked it. As accepting as the Boy Wonder was, he still believed that the rest of the Titans could've helped her, then, at least, Karigan might not have died. But then she had to go all stubborn or valiant, and become her usual obstinate self or the hero. Her refusal of help might have been her undoing, and if Robin had been more persistent and they had helped her regardless of her wishes, she might still be alive. But that had been his choice; he grudgingly chose to trust Karigan and respect that she didn't want them to help. (Sorry, but I really hope I didn't run in circles there…)

Raven could feel the myriad of emotions that were coming from Robin and a stream of thoughts. What he was pondering made a lot of sense, and she found herself agreeing with him on basically everything. And the more she thought about what he was thinking, the more it became obvious.

"She knew she was going to die." Raven muttered. Robin turned and stared at her.

"What?" Raven looked away from the window and at him.

"Karigan. She knew she was going to die. Th-that's why she went. She somehow knew that her death would affect the Telling of what is to come." Robin looked even more confused.

"But how could she have?" Then it dawned on Raven; how could she have forgotten so easily?

"Her dream." She stared at Robin, her mouth slightly agape. "The other night Karigan had a dream, a premonition really. In it, she saw my father, and he said 'this changes everything'." Raven sank to the ground and chuckled sardonically; something that did not suit her. "And she knew. Karigan knew what that meant, but pretended not to. And if I had known," she spat, her voice tainted with bitter anger. "I could've stopped her. If I had looked at the obvious, I would have seen right through her dream." She looked over at Robin. "Xaphtious killed Karigan, or Karigan killed Xaphtious and then died too. I don't know." She finished, leaning her head against the wall and closing her eyes; fighting back the sorrow that threatened to overwhelm her. Robin stayed silent for a moment.

"Isn't there a way to find out?" He asked softly. Raven sighed.

"No." she said hoarsely. But then her eyes shot open. "Yes." She breathed before she phased quickly out of the room, leaving Robin more confused than ever.

Raven returned shortly carrying the Volume of Faistine in her hands.

"If anything had changed, it would be in here." She said, folding her legs under her and floating a few feet in the air. Robin slowly walked over as she leafed through the pages. The seconds ticked by and still Raven could not find the Telling about the Doom. The pages turned on their own but settled down on the same page Raven started on. Frowning, Raven tried again but her results still came up as inconclusive; but that didn't make sense. So she flipped to the closest thing she remembered by the Telling; Crossfire. The sheets moved on an invisible breeze, and stopped in exactly the same spot. _It's like Karigan never existed. _Raven thought to herself. But then something jogged her memory and the pages flipped to a Telling about some warrior from another dimension that did something powerful. She went a few pages back and stopped at the page that was supposed to hold the Telling dealing with the Doom, but instead was only a blank page. Startled and a little bit frightened, she turned a couple pages ahead where the prophecy of Crossfire was, but again, came face to face with a blank page. Raven was confused more than ever, and didn't understand this at all. Robin stared at the blank pages and then looked at Raven, worry etched in his face.

"What does this mean?" he asked quietly. Raven stared intently at the book, and then slowly looked at Robin.

"I don't know."

XXXXXX

A bright white light met Karigan's eyes and she squinted against it. But as her eyes adjusted, she realized it was only a lighter shade of grey. Karigan guessed this was only a small room compared to the vast expanse of Mishocair, but since the outer limits of the room reached further than her eyes could see, she couldn't be sure. Positioned (she guessed) in the center of the room was an ethereal silver table that looked to be entirely made up of smoke. Seated on the left side were the denizens of the Underworld, and on the right, the rulers of the Afterlife. Karigan was quite alarmed that the actual rulers were sitting in front of her, and not at each others' throats. She turned to Sividia as she was walking away.

"They aren't actually _here_ are they?" she whispered. Sividia smiled and shook her head.

"These are merely apparitions of the actual entities created to take their place in Councils

for obvious reasons. They just relay what the actual being wants to say, and cannot speak until I start the Council. But unfortunately, there was a glitch in the spell, and they have the actually powers of the Rulers as well." She replied, walking around the table and standing at the head of it.

Sividia motioned for Karigan to rake a seat in the chair that materialized in front of her. After was seated, Sividia cleared her throat and announced that the Council had begun. Right before her eyes, the six remaining Supreme Rulers just seemed to spring to life. Karigan suppressed a giggle and a smile as she realized how much this resembled a court of law and how much Sividia looked like a judge.

"As you all know, we were summoned here to discuss where Karigan," she nodded at her,

"Should be placed." Trigon's specter was first to speak, since he obviously had the strongest feelings for the subject.

"This wretched leath taiseal should be immediately handed over to me to pay for this atrocity tenfold." He roared, clearly furious that she had killed his loyal terrier. Karigan folded her arms over her chest and tried to suppress the sly smirk that was creeping onto her face.

"Ah yes; penance, punishment and torture." Sividia commented, no trace of emotion present in her pale face. "We now know your side, so let us go to Celere, who also demanded this Council." Sividia looked over at Celere as did Karigan, and the Ruler straightened his lengthy white robes and did not meet her eyes, as if Karigan were not worthy of his gaze.

"Well, I believe this _child,_" he emphasized, "should not be permitted to enter our domain because she, (pertaining to her demonic heritage) would taint such a pure and peaceful land." He finished, holding his head high with arrogant dignity.

Karigan rolled her eyes, _stupid, righteous prick,_ she thought sourly. All heads turned in her direction.

"I do say child, I _can_ hear your thoughts." Celere said, appalled that someone would dare say such a thing to him.

"That's the idea…" Karigan muttered, glowering fiercely at Celere. Sividia suppressed a small smile and continued on.

"So, we have two for the Underworld. What are the opinions of everyone else?" she asked, looking around at each one of the Rulers.

Grim slowly turned his scepter is his hands with long bone-colored, spider-like fingers.

"Her soul would be a powerful addition to my wonderful collection. Of course, given that she wasn't broken after Trigon was finished with her." He hissed smoothly, fixating his soulless gaze on Karigan, who stared, albeit trembling slightly, right back at him. She had silently decided that no matter what and of these stupid power-hungry men said or did, Karigan would fight until she could fight no more to go where she wanted, and that most certainly wasn't going to be the Underworld.

By now, Karigan had figured out the pattern in which opinion were expressed and knew the large iridescent seraph would speak next. She also knew that so far the vote was three for the Underworld, and since there was still one evil denizen left to speak, that would be four and also the majority. So Karigan had to add her say before the seraph spoke or she didn't know if she could pluck up the courage to do so again.

"I have a proposition for all of you." She said just as the angel opened his mouth. All heads turned her way and their eyes settled on her with on disquieting weight. Karigan shifted uncomfortably, not used to such scrutiny and opened her mouth to continue.

"Instead of sitting here any longer and bickering like children, I say I make it easy for everyone and not go to either the Underworld or the Afterlife."

Looks of confusion and something else mixed with anger peered down at her. Though puzzled, Sividia was the first to recover.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her multi-tonal voice expressing her curiosity and air of befuddlement.

"I mean," Karigan said, sitting up, "that I stay here. So instead of arguing over me, make so no one wins." For a moment, no one spoke; the weight and possible ingenuity on this on all of their minds. Unanimously, the three rulers of the Afterlife nodded in agreement.

"As long as she is not permitted access to our domain, I am perfectly fine with this arrangement." Celere stated, looking directly at Sividia with his piercing gaze. Sividia nodded appreciatively at him and he, the seraph and the last denizen of good in flowing golden robes disappeared.

Trigon's apparition roared madly and slammed his giant clawed fist into the evanescent table.

"This is an outrage!" he cried, standing up. "I demand that this wretched _leath taiseal_ be handed over to my realm at once!" he bellowed, his eyes glowing deep red as he prepared to strike.

Sividia stood, her eyes flashing dangerously like the raw, merciless edge of a mighty sword. And when she spoke, it wasn't her usual multi-tonal voice, but one clear and ringing tone that seemed to be composed of two entirely different clashing voices. It was beautiful, dangerous, and harmonic and threatening all at the same time and Karigan couldn't decide whether to cover her ears in agony or revel in the sound.

"When you are in my domain you demand _nothing._" She hissed, her icy tone halting Trigon mid-fire. His steamy wrath was unparallel to her ice-cold fury; her glistening quicksilver eyes had hardened to stormy granite that even made a powerful demon like Trigon think twice about striking. A low, wolf-like growl emitted from Trigon's throat and the redness of his eyes died away. The anger behind Sividia's eyes lessened a bit but they still retained their stormy hue. Karigan felt like cheering and laughing out loud, but controlled her urge and put on a broad smirk instead.

Trigon lowered his clawed red fist and Grim chuckled throatily.

"We need to work on your people skills." he commented mockingly, fingering the blade of his scythe absentmindedly.

Trigon's eyes flared up again and he rounded on the Collector of Souls, prepared to strike. Sividia sighed and waved her hand, and the remaining Supreme Rulers vanished, traveling back to their own dimension.

"We will let them deal with their own issues on their own turf." Sividia commented, stepping through the table as it dissolved into silver dust. Karigan smiled and the two stepped back through the shimmering gateway into dim greyness. Once on the other side, Karigan's appearance changed; she was now outfitted in the same shimmering grey robe as Sividia, only somehow, they were different. If memory served her right, the color was of a darker more solemn hue, but now, they had a silver iridescence that seemed to flicker between blending with the shadows or standing out. It was almost like Karigan's presence made them brighter and more profound. Karigan fingered the garment lovingly and smiled at Sividia.

"Don't be alarmed if your hair begins to change in a little while. It comes with the job description." Sividia said, glancing at Karigan's hair. Karigan stroked her long locks thoughtfully and smiled again.

"What do we do now?" she asked, a new sense of security beginning to settle on her.

"Well, we learn. Anything in particular that you wanted to explore?" Sividia asked, clasping her hands behind her back.

Karigan thought for a moment. "I've always wanted to learn Chinese..."

XXXXXX

A trickle of light escaped the curtains' grasp and spilled onto the dark floor. Sounds of the rest of the Titans waking up reached both of their ears and Raven knew their absence would be noticed; it was only a matter of time. And then the questions would come. When? Why? How? They would ask, and then receive answers that they sadly expected but dreaded. It was like Terra all over again. Why did this keep happening to them? Some times it seemed it would just be better to not accept anyone ever again, to not endanger those they would grow to love and eventually lose. This was why Raven rarely opened up to people; the prospect of loosing anyone close to her frightened her more than aliens, oozing monsters or rampaging villains. But she _had_ opened up, only to lose two great friends, and now she wondered if she could ever open up again.

"Why do we do it?" she said, her voice almost a whisper. Robin raised his head out of his hands and looked at her, confused.

"Do what?" Raven readjusted her cloak and continued.

"Why do we keep accepting people as Titans, and then growing to love them? We're only hurting ourselves, and then completing the cycle over again." Robin sat silent for a moment.

"Because loving and losing someone is better than to never have loved at all."

"But is it worth it?" she asked quietly. Robin stared at the sliver of light streaming in from between the curtains.

"Is bitter loneliness worth more?"

Raven didn't respond to his question, because there was only one answer, and Robin already knew it. A weighty silence fell between them as their thoughts took control of their minds. Sighing, Robin looked back at Raven, worry evident on his face.

"How are we going to tell everyone else?" he asked softly. Raven said nothing, but then remembered the envelopes Karigan had given her before she died. Going over to her dresser, Raven pulled five white envelopes out of the top drawer.

"We don't have to." She said, handing Robin the envelope marked with his name in Karigan's bold scrawl. Robin slowly turned the package over in his hands; the envelope was thin, but something else added to the bulk on the inside.

"Karigan wanted me to give them to everyone if she didn't make it. You read, I'll give the others theirs." Robin nodded as Raven left, his eyes still fixated on the parcel in his grasp.

Slowly, Raven floated downstairs, trusting her memories to lead her to the common room; for there was much on her mind and she was hardly paying attention to where she was going. As she rounded a corner, her mind off on its own, so did another Titan. Raven and Beast Boy collided head on and fell to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. The green Changeling rubbed his head.

"Hey, watch-" he stopped short, realizing just who he was about to verbally bash. He had been on edge, as well as Cyborg and Starfire, ever since the truth about the future had been revealed.

"Oh, uh, sorry." He stuttered, quickly standing up and extending his hand to help Raven up. The dark girl ignored the hand and scrambled to gather the letters that had been scattered during the fall. Beast Boy bent to help, but spotted the one addressed to him.

"Hey, what's this?" he asked, picking up the envelope and turning it over in his hands. Raven sighed and stood up.

"Follow me and don't open it yet." She said, turning on her heel and heading for the common room. Intrigued, Beast Boy shrugged to himself and complied.

The common room doors slid and Raven followed by Beast Boy entered. Starfire and Cyborg turned towards the sound, and Cyborg raised his eyebrow to Raven's more-somber-than-usual look.

"Hey Rae, where ya been?" he asked, poking the sausage he was cooking with a fork. Raven said nothing and floated over and handed him and Star the envelopes marked with their names, keeping her own.

"These are from Kari." She said. Cyborg opened his mouth to question her, but Raven cut him off. "Don't ask, just read."

They all gave her weird looks, but opened the envelopes without question. Raven walked over to the table and sat down, staring intently at her package. Sighing mournfully, Raven opened the envelope silently and pulled out a folded piece of paper and opened it.

As she read, Raven could feel the sorrow she had tried to suppress threaten to break out.

_Dear Raven, _

_First off, I'm sorry. By now, I know you've figured out the full truth, and well…it sucks. I had to lie one last time, because I knew you wouldn't let me go if you knew. And yes, it was the dream. I figured out the full truth only shortly before writing this, and I knew I had to go. Something in my book changed, didn't it? I don't know if the future has been entirely re-written, but I do know it changed for the better. _

_But most importantly, I have good news. Great news, in fact. Your powers are tied to your emotions, but I have found a way for you to be able to feel freely, without endangering anyone._

_I have been experimenting, very cautiously though, with my emotions. As I was writing everyone else's letters, I let my guard down. My emotions ran stronger than normal, and nothing happened. And if you are reading this and Xaphtious is dead, that means my theory is correct. _

_If you embrace your emotions, instead of locking them away like some rabid animal, they will do no harm. But it's only when they are restrained, that they begin to revolt. And I know about your emotions, Beast Boy told me the whole story. _

_I know this seems absurd, and a little hard to believe, but trust me once again. Because I was used to feeling, my emotions weren't so…mutinous after being locked up. But I know yours will be longing to break free and cause all kinds of havoc. So just let out a little bit of sadness, or laughter, or anger at a time, and soon enough, you'll be able to feel openly. _

_Love,  
Karigan _

Raven just stared at the letter, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. _Feel openly…_the very prospect frightened her, and she had to doubt what Karigan had written, but in a way, it made sense.

All of those times when she had accidentally let out a little bit of emotion, nothing had happened. But it was only when restraint eluded her that destruction reigned.

A small crystal tear rolled down her cheek and onto the paper. Sniffing slightly, she wiped away the rest and placed the letter back in its envelope.

"Is she really gone?" Beast Boy asked in a small voice, his eyes laden with sorrow.

Raven looked up at him, unable to keep another tear, and another, from sliding down her face.

She nodded.

XXXXXX

For awhile, Robin did not move. It was as if everything around him had frozen in Time, and the only thing that existed was him, and the letter.

Find myself all alone  
in darkness without you  
and now I can't turn away  
From what I must do  
You know I'd give my life for you  
More than words can say  
I've shown you how to love someone  
I know you'll find a way

Say goodbye, close your eyes  
Remember me  
Walk away, the sun remains  
Remember me

I'll live on somewhere in your heart,  
You must believe,  
Remember me

Slowly, as if he were dealing with an active bomb, Robin opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

Two white squares fell out of the folded piece of paper and Robin picked them up. The first one was a picture of him and Karigan; they were sitting at the pizza parlor, just acting like normal carefree teens. Of course, that had been before all this end of the world stuff was brought to attention. The other was of the entire team. It had been a nice day outside, so they decided to take a trip to the park for a barbecue. But unfortunately, it had begun to rain. The picture was of them in a sheltered eating area, all sopping wet, taken by a random person that happened to be there too.

No way I can change my mind  
I don't have the answers  
If you could see through my eyes  
You'd let go of your fears  
And though I have to leave you now  
We're apart of each other  
I'll miss your touch, you call my name  
I am with you forever

Say goodbye, close your eyes  
Remember me  
Walk away, the sun remains  
Remember me

Winds of change we can't explain  
Remember me  
I'll live on somewhere in your heart  
You must believe  
Remember me

You know I'd give my life for you  
More than words can say  
I've shown you how to love someone  
I know you'll find a way

Robin smiled; those were good times, and he wondered what had happened to them. It had been what? A week? Two weeks? Since Xaphtious had shown up, ruining their day like the rain had ruined Beast Boy's vegetarian sausages?

Sighing, Robin pushed those solemn thoughts aside and unfolded the sheet of paper that contained Karigan's letter.

_Dear Robin, _

_If you're reading this then I'm dead. There's no point in euphemisms, they only make the truth harder to bear. I know you're probably mad at me, and undoubtedly a bit agitated at Raven for not telling you the truth. But I did what I had to do, and hopefully in time you will come to understand that. It was something I couldn't get out of, that we couldn't avoid. There's no point in denying the undeniable. Things just don't work like that. And I believe you are the only person besides Raven that understands the pure, simple truth in that. And for that, I thank you. I thank you for the times you helped me along, kept my strength and hope from failing. You are the glue that holds this team together, whether you know it or not. But the rest of the ream is going to need you now, and you'll need them just as much. So play your part and hold each other together. After all, what are friends for? But don't even think of wasting your life away pining for me; I can make a **very** unfriendly ghost. _

_But why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up. So you do just that; because whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. So please Robin, remember me, but let me go. _

_Love,  
Karigan _

Don't you think of this as the end,  
I'll come into your dreams  
Remember me.

XXXXXX

So there you have it. The last chapter of What is to Come has finally been completed. Urgh…it took me forever…but that's ok, because I'm glad it's done. Oh, and the song is 'Remember Me' by Journey. It's on the Armageddon soundtrack...

I think I'll lay off the long-winded author notes and just let you review. Bye all, and Happy Thanksgiving! Don't eat _too_ much…


End file.
